


Through the worlds to you

by Kit2000andAnna



Category: Hakuouki
Genre: Alternate Reality, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/M, Falling In Love, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Love Triangles, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2019-03-04 21:45:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13373673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kit2000andAnna/pseuds/Kit2000andAnna
Summary: A young girl comes to Kyoto to study History. She lives in her sensei's friend's house, but starts to feel some strange feelings towards the owner's son-a young and handsome man with deep azure eyes. A Saito/Chizuru/Chikage fic.





	1. Her Sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> A/N Hello minna-san! Let us represent our new work on Hakuouki fandom! We hope you will like this fanfiction and leave your reviews! The main pairing is Saito/Chizuru.   
> Enjoy!

** Chapter 1 **

**_Her sorrow_ **

 

Nobody could predict that something like that could ever happen. The members of Shinsengumi were killed. Everyone was killed violently. It was a bloody battle—a trap that let to awful consequences.

There were no legendary “Wolves of Mibu” anymore. All of them were gone forever.

**_Saito was gone forever…_ **

Chizuru hugged his lifeless body tenderly. Tears never stopped running from her chocolate eyes, that held so much sorrow in them. She didn’t mind being covered with his blood. Her world was shattered. The man she loved with all her being was dead. He would never look at her with those gentle azure eyes; she would never hear his calm voice and touching words of affection; he would never ever embrace her taking her fragile body in his secure arms; she would never feel his warm smooth lips on hers…

**_They would never ever meet again and say “I love you” to each other._ **

Her heart was bleeding. She didn’t hear her own loud uncontrollable sobs of despair.

“Hajime-san!!!!!” a heart-rending squall echoed on the battlefield, which was covered with dead bodies of her dear friends and beloved man.

If only she could turn back time… if only she could prevent that tragedy! Chizuru didn’t know how to live now. Saito-san was her world, the air that she breathed, her source of strength.

**_And now he was gone…_ **

The girl pressed her cheek to his dirty bloody face, hugging him even tighter.

“What do I do, Hajime-san? How should I live now? There is no tomorrow for me without you…” her sobs continued as she couldn’t stop crying over her great loss.

So, that was how a woman felt losing her beloved at the battlefield. Saito’s cold skin was the proof of her solitude. She would never fall in love again, because he was her first and only one. They had been married only for 3 days, but the fate was too cruel. It made them fall apart and it felt as a single body was cut into two halves, taking the vital strength away.

Chizuru lay on her dear man’s bosom for a long time, hoping to catch the tiniest sound of his heartbeat, but all she could hear was dead silence.  Her heart felt empty, while her teary eyes turned emotionless. Nobody knew how long she would have stayed like that, clenching her husband’s lifeless body, as if it could bring him back to life if she did so, but after some time Chizuru heard a deep, confident voice, that she recognized right away.

“You don’t have to grieve and cry over some weakling like him. He would have faced such inglorious death sooner or later”.   

The girl didn’t reply to his cruel words. His personal point of view meant absolutely nothing to her.

“Come with me, Chizuru,” he continued calmly, taking a step closer towards her.

After his last words the brown-haired widow lifted her head and looked at the intruder: blond hair, ruby eyes, full lips and a penetrating gaze… yes, he was a handsome man—a man with his own point of view and style of living. He was charming and mysterious; every woman could have fallen in love with him not even noticing his hard character, but Chizuru wasn’t one of those types of women. She was a single-lover. Saito was the first man in her life, maybe even if they had met each other later and under another circumstances, she thought, she would have fallen for Hajime-san all the same.

Chikage was looking at her intently. His features were calm yet concentrated. It felt as if he was testing her, forcing her to make a choice right here and right now.

“Chizuru,” his rich and deep voice gained her attention again. “You will never know what suffer is if you come with me. Humans don’t deserve your abilities. You belong to my world and you know that. So,” his outstretched hand appeared before her face, “come with me, my lady”.

He couldn’t find a better time for his demanding, could he?

The girl dropped her hopeless gaze on the ground. She was trembling inside, but not in fear but from a sudden feeling of loneliness. Hajime-san wouldn’t come and save her this time; and even if she declined Kazama’s almost-order, he wouldn’t leave her alone but maybe try taking her with him forcefully. The widow clenched her killed husband’s cold hand as if asking for protection subconsciously.

“Give me 3 days, Kazama-san,” her voice sounded almost silently, it was like a whisper.

Chikage arched his eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

“I have to bury my friends and…” Chizuru held her breath not to let a sob escape her throat, and then continued, “husband…”

The blond man’s hand returned to its usual position by his side slowly. His ruby eyes glowed with anger and jealousy for a moment, but he managed to grip his emotions together and answered calmly:

“I will give you this time of privacy, but don’t try to fool me, dear Chizuru. I will come again in 3 days”.

Throwing the last glance at the broken-hearted young woman’s figure, he turned to leave but froze on his tracks when he heard her weak voice:

“Arigato for understanding”.

He didn’t reply to her and continued his way with a blank mask on his manly face.   

 

OooooO


	2. Her Dream

** Chapter 2 **

**_Her dream_ **

 

During those 3 days Chizuru didn’t know what a rest was. She accomplished all the preparations for a funeral and then buried her dear friends and beloved husband. It wasn’t the first time she was burying someone close, but now it felt million times worse. Her eyes couldn’t cry anymore, but her soul did. She was inconsolable in her great distress.

**_Saito-san was gone forever…_ **

…and she was chased by Chikage. Chizuru had never loved the blond man, even if he didn’t try to harm her physically. Saito was the only man she had ever felt those precious feelings for.

Chizuru didn’t want to be with Chikage. She knew that he needed her only for his own interests. She could give birth to his heirs and that was the only thing he wanted from her.

No, how could she betray her husband’s memory? She dreamed of having children, but only Saito’s. The girl unconsciously put her hand on her flat belly. Who knew, maybe she was already pregnant with his heir. But could it be even possible only after 3 days of their life of a married couple? Even if it was true and she was indeed bearing Hajime-san’s heir under her heart, it was impossible for her and her unborn child to hide from Kazama. He would find her everywhere, no matter how hard she would try to escape.

**_It was useless. She was doomed to become Chikage’s woman._ **

The young widow threw herself on her husband’s grave and indulged in a wild and inconsolable lament. She didn’t notice as she cried herself to sleep.

“ _Chizuru, koishii_ ” she heard someone’s gentle whisper. “ _Chizuru, I’m right beside you_ …”

The girl turned around but didn’t see anyone, though she had finally recognized the owner of the voice.

“ _Hajime-san!!!”_ she cried out desperately.

“ _We will be together, Chizuru, I promise. Our love will never die…just don’t lose faith_ ”.

“ _Hajime-san!!!”_ she continued crying, clenching her hands in the darkness hoping to reach for her beloved. But there was nobody there.

“ _Don’t lose hope. I will be waiting for you_ …”

And then there was silence.

“Hajime-san!!!” Chizuru snapped out of her sleep, not realizing where she was.  Only some moments later she noticed a small graveyard, that she had made for the members of Shinsengumi. She had been lying on her husband’s grave all that time, while she was sleeping.

“Is it really true, Hajime-san?” she sobbed, covering her face with her palms. “Are you really waiting for me? Please, give me your strength to overcome this…”

Chizuru’s tired gaze fell on a sword that was lying next to her. It was Saito’s katana with a red ribbon tied to the handle. She remembered the day she had given him that silky ribbon and how he had put it on his sword as a reminder of her. The next evening after that little event he came to her with a proposal. They were so happy back then; it was the day they shared their first kiss. Now all those images of their wonderful life together felt like a distant dream. The reality was killing and too unbearable.

**_She had lost everything…_ **

The only thing that remained was this sharp katana that belonged to the most darling person in her life. Chizuru took it carefully in her hands and held it close to her heart. It was the only memory of her husband that she had, and she would treasure and save it no matter what.

Some hours later, the young widow left the graveyard and headed to the village, where Saito and her had a cozy house. They started to live there as a family after the marriage, but their happiness had lasted only for 3 days. On the 3d day Saito was ordered to join the detachment, but he didn’t tell her that the reason he had to go there was the beginning of the revolution. Actually, Saito didn’t know it himself.

Hijikata-san did it on purpose. He lied to Saito in order to save her from danger no matter what. Of course, if she could only conjecture about the real reason, she would have never stayed at home but went at the battlefield with everyone. It was better to die with them than live without her dear ones. This life, that Hijikata-san was trying to protect so hard, was a burden to her now.  Perhaps, it was a noble did from his side, but in the end, it didn’t make her any happier, since she lost her husband forever.

On her way back home she was thinking only about one thing: did she really have a home to go? What would she do there alone without her soul-mate? Was it even right to go back to an empty house, where she knew no one would say “okairi nasai”?

Chizuru stopped and looked at the sword. She gently brushed the red ribbon, that she once gave to Hajime-san, so that he would always remember her and hurry back home into her loving embrace. The gaze of her chocolate eyes travelled to the hill, from where her village could be seen. Her legs led her to the very edge of that hill. The strong wind was playing with her long brown hair, drying its wetness. Chizuru unconsciously looked down; a feeling of fear sneaked into her heart, when she saw the bottom of the steep. It was pretty high form the spot where she was standing.

“ _I am waiting for you…”_ she could swear that she heard Hajime-san’s whisper, or was it just the wind playing tricks with her?

Chizuru closed her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them again, a great image of her husband appeared in the thin air—right in the steep. It was blurry and transparent. It looked more like a reflection on the water. It was really Saito, but he was dressed in a very strange way. She had never seen him wearing such clothes before. They reminded her of western style suits that she had seen on European people that came to Japan, but despite those strange clothes, it was still Hajime-san. And he was outstretching his hand as if he was calling for her.

The poor girl had almost lost her senses from the vision she was seeing.

“Hajime-san?” she made some steps forward; little rocks fell down from the edge of the hill where she was standing. Her heart felt hesitation, but when the image began to fade away, Chizuru’s eyes watered in misery.

“No! Don’t go! Don’t leave me again!” she cried into the air desperately and moved forward to grab his hand as if it was her last hope.

In that very position, the young widow lost her balance and fell down and deep into the steep.

“ _I want to be with you, Hajime-san, please, meet me there_ …” was all she could think before losing her consciousness.

 

**OooooO**

 

Kazama wasn’t a fool. He could predict that she would try to run away from him. So he decided to watch her during those 3 days. He never tried to interfere, since it was his word that she would have her time to bury those pathetic humans.

On the third day he crapped up on her on the way to the village. To his surprise she started to talk to herself on the hill.

“ _I will make you forget about him_ ,” the blond man thought, watching as his object of affection was in so much pain. But before he could even finish thinking that, the girl cried out to someone and jumped from the edge.

Chikage’s eyes rounded in disbelieve, but he found strength to rush forward and teleport to his future wife’s side.

**_It was easy._ **

“Silly, you think you can escape from me by killing yourself?” his lips curved into a smirk while he took her senseless body in his strong arms, still falling deep into the steep.

“I will never let it happen. Finally…you are mine”.

And with those words he imagined the place he wanted them to appear.

But…

**_…nothing happened…_ **

They continued falling. Chikage’s eyes widened in shock. He tried to summon his teleporting powers again, but the result was the same.

“What happened!?!” he cried in annoyance. For the first time in his life Kazama Chikage felt scared. Creepy thoughts that it could be the end sneaked into his mind. “It can’t be! I couldn’t turn into a mere human, could I?” his panicking gaze fell on the girl in his arms. He pressed her fragile body dearly to his chest and whispered through gritted teeth:

**_“I will save you, Chizuru…”_ **

But she didn’t hear his promise. They were falling with their heads down.

“ _It will be an instant death_ ,” the blond thought, looking at the approaching bottom. His strong hands tightened around the girl, and when Chikage thought that they would meet the ground in some seconds, everything glowed around them. 

The light was so bright that the man had to shut his ruby eyes. The last thing he managed to notice before losing his senses was strange high buildings that he had never seen in his whole life.

Then he felt a hard and painful impact and lost his consciousness completely.


	3. Their Meeting

** Chapter 3 **

**_Their meeting_ **

 

A dark-haired girl was walking down the street, holding a piece of paper in her hands. It was a self-made map of this area. The girl remembered the time when she had to draw it and her face dropped literary.

“So, how I suppose to find that dojo?” she asked no one in particular.

All the streets looked very much alike and it was hard to find the right place for a stranger like her. A vision of a dean appeared in her mind. Hijikata-san told her to spend 3 months in Kyoto, pointing out that it would bring good experience and it would be very helpful in her future profession as an art historian. That was why he had sent her to Kyoto to roam around all the meaningful and historical places, not forgetting about visiting libraries.

She didn’t like to get lost, but it happened again. Well, at least she had a right address, so it wouldn’t harm her if she asked a passing-by person about her destination, would it? Shinpachi-sensei was very helpful when he offered his best student a place where she could stay in Kyoto.

“He is my good friend. He has his own dojo, so it would be convenient. You won’t forget anything I have taught you during these two years. You may stay at his house. I will call him today”.

She joined the kendo-club when she entered the University. Actually, she had been attending kendo-clubs since she was small. Teachers saw great future in a tiny girl, who had unique skills in the art of sword. But also she was obsessed with history, that’s why the girl was studying hard to become an art historian, so that someday she could take over her grandmother’s business, which consisted of two antique shops.

Her grades were the best in the class and now group. Harada-sensei, her former History teacher back at high school, helped her to made right decision about her future profession. She had attended his lessons properly and after them they would discuss some historical events. She was very grateful to Harada-sensei for supporting her dream of becoming a professional in History.

But she also loved kendo. It was her passion. She remembered Okita-senpai’s words when he came to see her off at the railway station.

“Don’t try to run away, Chizuru-chan. We still haven’t found out who is the strongest of us. I will be waiting for our next challenge,” he said with a playful smile on his handsome face.

It was true: the two of them were unbeatable at the tournaments. They were called “Two bladed katana” and gained deep respect of all the University, as they were its pride.

Heisuke-kun, her childhood friend, was also there to wish her good luck and a nice trip to Kyoto. They had been best friends for ages, and Heisuke also joined the kendo-club, but his results were not that high as hers, though he took second places at the competitions.

Chizuru sighed with a gentle smile on her lips. After all she had really good friends and people around her.

After one more hour of searching, she had finally found what she was looking for. The area looked very traditional. The table on the gates proved that she was at the right place.

**_“The Saitos”_ **

The name made her heart tighten in her chest and she didn’t know why. Chizuru pressed the door bell and waited for an answer. After a minute of awaiting, the front door opened and a brown-haired young man came into a view.

“Saito-san?” Chizuru questioned shyly.

“No. Saito-sama is absent now. The name is Yamazaki. May I know who I am speaking with?”

“Oh!” she stiffened. “Watashi wa Yukimura Chizuru desu. I came from Tokyo. Shinpachi-sensei must have called you”.

While she was telling him that, the man’s eyes grew wider and wider with each second.

“Sorry for my rudeness, Yukimura-dono, please, come in. It seems that a little misunderstanding happened”.

She walked after him into a traditionally decorated room of the house.

“I will call Saito-sama to tell him about your arrival. He drove off to meet you at the railway station but it seems that we were given incorrect information”.

“Masaka!” the girl exclaimed in disbelieve, “I’m very sorry to cause so much trouble to your master!”

“Please, excuse me, I have to inform Saito-sama,” and he left the room with a bow.

Chizuru’s mood was on a zero level. She had already made a not-so-good impression of herself and caused trouble to Saito-san, whom she hadn’t even seen yet. Great! Just great! And he went at the railway station especially to meet her. Oh, why didn’t Shinpachi-sensei tell her about it? He must have known! It was such an embarrassing situation!

Some minutes later Yamazaki returned with a tray in his hands.

“Saito-sama will be back in an hour. You must be tired after the trip, please, have some herbal tea while I’m checking if the guestroom is ready”.

“Oh, no, you don’t have to!” she tried to resist, but the man put the tray on the table and bowed.

“It’s Saito-sama’s order”.

When he went out of the room, Chizuru felt like crying. It wasn’t her day that was for sure! After 15 minutes of pending, Yamazaki returned to the guest’s side.

“Everything is prepared. Your luggage is already in your room. I’ll show you the way. Please, follow me, Yukimura-dono,” he said politely.

The girl was about to stand up and leave her herbal tea on the table, when a young maid appeared in the doorway and announced:

“Yamazaki-san, Saito-sama has returned”.

The brown-haired man’s eyebrows arched a little in surprise.

“That fast?” he wondered. “Arigato, you may be free”.

And the woman retreated with a bow. Yamazaki turned to face the guest and was about to say something, but Chizuru was the first one who began speaking:

“I’d like to stay here and meet your master. I want to greet him and give him my deep respect”.

The man nodded in approval.

“Alright. You may wait here. I will go and tell Saito-sama about your audience”.

“Thank you, Yamazaki-san,” was her shy reply.

When the brown-haired man disappeared from the view, the girl’s heart started to beat faster in fear. Somehow, the situation wasn’t on her side. Her imagination was already drawing a picture of the owner of this giant house: cold grey eyes, a malevolent face, a dark killing aura that could freeze you to death…

“Scary!” she whined, shutting her eyes in despair, but when she opened them again, a figure of a well-dressed young man appeared before her eyes.

He was tall and breathtakingly handsome. An average length of thick dark-violet hair, expressive azure eyes, framed with dark long eye-lashes, well-shaped lips, determined chin—his face radiated concentration and confidence. This man was dressed in an austere yet elegant dark-blue suit and there was a black leather case in his left hand. All those details could describe him as a serious and well-behaved young man.

Chizuru’s body felt like numb, when she gazed into his mesmerizing crystal-blue eyes. She didn’t even notice when he moved his lips to say:

“Hajime mashite, Yukimura-san. I’m very glad to meet you in our modest accommodation. Please, take my apologies for the misunderstanding. Shinpachi-san called my parents who are on a business-trip right now. They confused something with the train schedule and gave me incorrect information. Please, forgive me for not meeting you at the station,” after he said that, he bowed politely to the younger girl.

When she saw him bowing and apologizing like that, Chizuru’s eyes widened in terror.

“Saito-san! It’s me who must ask for forgiveness! It’s not your fault! I found your household very quickly and Yamazaki-san has already settled everything down. I’m very sorry for not giving you a phone-call myself, but Shinpachi-sensei didn’t give me your phone number. Please, forgive me for causing you so much trouble, Saito-san!” she finished her nervous speech with a deep bow of respect. Actually, she was so charmed by his deep yet velvet voice, so she had to hide her blushing face from his sight.

He scanned her figure very attentively, and she felt as her heart skipped a beat from the gaze of his azure eyes.  

And the young man was pleased to see that this girl was wearing a nice and modest summer-dress of peach colour that made her look very feminine and fragile, her hair was taken in a neat hair-style and there was an almost invisible yet fresh make-up on her face. Also she wore a sweet, barely catchable perfume. Soito assumed that she grew up in an intelligent family. If to be honest, he didn’t like that negligent style and defiant make-up young girls loved to wear nowadays. All those hole-ridden jeans, revealing tops and snickers made him avert his gaze to the side as it wasn’t a pleasant view to watch, to his mind.

Chizuru didn’t know what was happening to her. She had imagined him to be some kind of a monster, but in reality he appeared to be a very nice and well-behaved young man in his early 20s.

A sigh of relief could be heard in the room as the young master smiled lightly and spoke:

“My name is Saito Hajime. I am very glad to have you as a guest. Please, feel yourself at home, Yukimura-san”.

Chizuru lifted her shy gaze at him and returned his almost invisible smile with a lovely and wide one.

“Watashi wa Yukimura Chizuru desu. Thank you for your kindness, Saito-san,” they exchanged bows of respect and looked at each other again. Chizuru’s cheeks couloured light pink, which made her look even more adorable.

“You may call me Saito-senpai. I’m not much older than you,” the dark-amethyst-haired young man uttered, trying to sound as friendly as it was possible, since he noticed that his presence made her feel a little uneasy. 

“H-hai,” was her short but very unsure reply.

“Now, you must be tired after the trip. Yamazaki will show you the room you may rest”.

And as if he was hiding somewhere in the room, the brown-haired man appeared beside his master.

Chizuru thanked her host and retreated, following the butler.


	4. Her Ideals

** Chapter 4 **

**_Her ideals_ **

 

And the life in Kyoto began. Her days flew by the following way: at first she had breakfast with Saito-senpai, then they went their separate ways—she went roaming around the libraries and museums and he headed to the University to practice his ambassador skills. She spent her dinner at the nearest café to the place she currently was. After a working day she came back to the Saitos’ mansion at 7 p.m. since the late dinner started at 7.30 p.m.

Saito-senpai was a very polite and considerate person; he always asked Chizuru about her day and never treated her as a lodger. The young girl loved to talk to him. It turned out that they had very much in common. They both adored samurais and spent hours talking about the way samurais lived and the greatness of their bushido code. So, that was how Saito learned that Chizuru was going to become the next owner of her grandmother’s antiques shops.  Also he got very interested when she said that her father was a professor of hematology and he and his partner Sanaan-san were busy with their researches in Germany.

“After my brother and I have grown up, our mother never leaves her husband’s side and she went abroad with our father.”   

Saito was a little surprised to find out that Chizuru had a twin-brother, who wasn’t interested in the antique and history. He was more like their father, that was why he chose studying medicine and bounded his life up with it. But she was in love with history and kendo. They had never been in good terms as siblings but still she loved her brother and wanted him to become a good person.

Saito told her about his family in return. He was the only child of his parents. His father was a chief of police and his mother was an ambassador, but due to her work she spent most of time on business trips. His father couldn’t let her go on her own to Italy and retired from his work so that he could join his wife. It had been 3 years since they left for Rome, but there was a single year left before their assignment came to the end. As far as he was concerned, Saito-senpai was on his last year of studying to become an ambassador. While his parents were away, he looked after their household and a family dojo. That dojo was 200 years old and taught their unique style of swordsmanship.

 

**OooooO**

 

It had been 2 weeks already since she came to live at the young man’s house, but Saito-senpai refused to take any payment from her. Chizuru didn’t like it because it made her feel like a burden to him. She wanted to pay him back for his kindness and hospitality, but every time she started telling him about that, he changed the topic so skillfully, that it made Chizuru forget about what she wanted to say in the first place.

One day she decided to go to the backyard to get some practice. She missed those times when Okita-senpai and she had challenges to find out who was the strongest and the quickest, but every time they crossed their katanas, it was impossible to tell who was the winner. They were equal but that fact didn’t make them happy. Being equal didn’t mean to be the first one. That was why they kept on challenging each other only to get the same result in the end again and again.

The morning was cool and refreshing , the young girl got up, took her precious katana and went down a narrow corridor that led to the tradition garden at the back yard of the house. The dark-haired maiden opened the door carefully, so it wouldn’t make a single sound. She didn’t want to wake up anyone since it was early in the morning. When the door was opened, her eyes caught a glimpse of someone’s well-built figure. Chizuru froze on her spot. She became a witness of Saito-senpai’s morning practice. He held his katana with both hands and breathed deeply with his eyes closed. He was dressed in traditional black yukata. Chizuru’s eyes widened in admiration when he made a quick but sharp slice that caused a tiny stick to cut in half. Her heart started beating faster as she looked at the man who had such great skills in swordsmanship. A sudden idea crossed her mind while she watched his practice from her shelter. The girl smiled to herself and closed the door, hiding Saito’s perfect stance from the view.

 

**OooooO**

 

Saito knew that she was there, watching him. He sensed her presence but decided not to show it. For some unknown reason he felt pleased that she was watching him. It was a strange feeling, he had never felt anything like that before, not to mention, that he had never let anyone to disturb him while he was practicing. She didn’t disturb him, but she was still there…if it was anyone else but her, he would have punished that intruder. Hajime didn’t like it when someone stared at him _especially_ when he was trying to improve his skills in the art of sword. That was why he always got up with the first sun rays to have some privacy in the garden.

The young man sensed her strong spirit that was longing for a challenge and it amused him. Also Saito’s subconsciousness noticed her sudden disappearance. It made him a little disappointed about the fact that she left so fast. The next moment his crystal-blue eyes flew open and with one swift motion he killed another “enemy” without mercy.

She would definitely get that challenge she desired so much… he was ready to fulfill her needs. But most of all Hajime Saito was surprised by himself: he had never sensed such great spirit and a wish to protect someone as that girl had.

A shade of smile crossed his handsome face, as he brushed some strands of his fore-hair away from his eyes.         

 

**OooooO**

 

Weekend came the next day. Saito was at home preparing for a lesson. He taught kendo to a group of young man in his family dojo. And so, when he was checking his katana, Chizuru came in and walked to her host with unpredictable sparkles in her chocolate eyes.

“Saito-senpai, I have something to tell you”.

The dark-haired man put back his katana into its sheath and looked down at the girl, placing his penetrating blue eyes on her. He was much taller than her that was why she had to lift her face to look at his face.

“I’m listening. What do you want to say, Yukimura-san?”

Chizuru bit her lower lip in uncertainty and started to play with her fingers, but despite that nervousness, she found some courage to look at his face firmly.

“I’m very honoured to live in your wonderful house, Saito-senpai, but I feel like a sponger! You refuse to take any payment from me and it makes me feel like a real burden! I know that you are very busy and you don’t have enough time to rest, so…I…” she stammered, while he was looking at her very attentively and even intriguingly. He really was a little curious to know what she was up to.

Yukimura exhaled and sent him a gaze full of determination, which he received with amusement.

“Let me help you with teaching. I know how to hold and use katana! My teachers were Kondo-san and Shinpachi-san. I may replace you on the lessons”.

Hajime’s dark eyebrow arched elegantly as he continued listening to her demanding speech. He noted her seriousness and desperation. The girl’s spirit couldn’t stop surprising him.

Without saying a single word, Saito turned away from her and approached a stand where many blades were lying. He took one of them and threw it towards the brunette, which she skillfully caught with her right hand.

“Prove me the rightness of your words,” was his precise yet sharp reply.

Chizuru’s lips curved into a smile as she wielded her katana and took a stance. Saito followed her example.

The battle began instantly. The girl had really high skills, the young man noticed. She was indescribably quick, sharp and powerful. He checked her facilities in every aspect. It was a serious challenge, not a trial one that he wanted to start with. He got really interested in how she fought. But the most surprising thing for the young swordsman was that he could clearly see the secret blocks and moves of his family’s technique in her style. The fact amazed him to no limits. She did them unconsciously, he noted, because it didn’t look like she spent a lot of time learning them by heart. The only thing the young Saito knew was that all those secret attacks and blocks were never taught in their dojo and never passed to anyone else but the Saito family.

**_How did this girl know them?_ **

It was a mystery to him.

Also Hajime was pleasantly surprised about the fact that those elements of his style looked wonderful on her. With every blow and every block her dark-brown hair swayed in the air due to the quickness of her action. Her eyes were glowing with fire and spirit of challenge. He didn’t know how to describe his emotions he felt right now, but for some reason she looked unique to his eyes.

The battle ended abruptly. He stopped it on purpose. There was no reason to continue it since he needed time to analyze everything he had learnt and known that day.

**_This girl was full of mysteries and he had a strong feeling of solving some of them._ **

The young people bowed to each other in respect.

“Well?” her voice sounded light due to her rapid breathing, and that very sound had almost made her always calm and concentrated senpai blush like a high-school student on his first date. “Saito-senpai, will you give me your permission to teach in your dojo?”

Her eyes sparkled with confidence and superiority. The dark-amethyst-haired man shook his dark chevelure, brushing his bangs away from his wetted forehead as he did so, and told her in a low and a little bit too serious, even ordering, tone:

“You may take the elementary group. They come to study at noon”.

After saying that, he turned and walked out of the wooden-floored dojo, leaving a bewildered girl alone.

He couldn’t let her teach the teens and older men because she was too adorable with katana in her hands, therefore, that could shake their discipline and make them forget about the reason why they had come to this dojo in the first place. Saito could tell that for sure, since he had almost become a victim of her unique charms.

The young man swallowed hard and wiped some beads of sweat from his blushing face. It was painful to admit, but he had just lost that challenge… she defeated him not with her skills of a sword-master...no…he was in a good shape and could win that challenge, though he had to admit that she was a strong opponent.

**_He lost to her disorientating femininity…_ **

Saito stopped in a long corridor and covered his eyes with his palm. He had to take a cold shower  or else all of those thoughts would drive him crazy. He couldn’t kick the image of her lovely yet determinate face during their challenge out of his mind.

“What’s happening to me?” he whined, feeling as his cheeks and ears were getting hotter and hotter with every passing second.

 

**OooooO**

 

Chuzuru was expecting something, but she didn’t expect to become a teacher for an elementary group! She thought that her skills would be more useful in teaching older groups.

Her mood fell. But if to think..she would be helpful to Saito-senpai anyways, even if it meant teaching kindergarteners. The girl sighed in defeat. Well, if it was really what he wanted, she would do it without hesitation. Maybe she wouldn’t feel herself like a sponger after that.

Chizuru’s gaze fell on a sword stand. She remembered the challenge she had some minutes ago and her soul filled with thrilling emotions. She had never felt so much on the edge before. She adored challenging Okita-senpai. He was cool, quick…and loved to tease her during their fights…

**_But…this challenge was different._ **

The girl didn’t know how to describe those emotions she felt. She couldn’t find the right words…but all she could say was:

“It was unforgettable…”

Her whole body was trembling in excitement when her katana crossed with his—calm, concentrated and mysterious young man whose name was Saito Hajime. And his eyes…they were several times brighter than before. It could mean only one thing—he enjoyed that challenger no less than she did.

Chizuru thought bitterly that his students had more chances to cross their blades with their teacher’s and enjoy a thrilling battle that made your blood both boil and freeze in your veins.

“I wish I could become his student too…” the brown-haired girl whined hopelessly, heading back to her room and leaving an empty dojo behind.


	5. Her Fears

** Chapter 5 **

**_Her fears_ **

 

 

And her life as a master of sword began. She taught children on Sundays and did it very successfully, but the very first lesson was held under Saito-senpai’s examining gaze. To Chizuru’s great luck he was pleased with the result and never tried to control her lessons after that. The girl was glad that she could help her hospitable landlord in some way.

After teaching she usually stayed at home on Sundays. After a week of searching for material, she had lots of books and journals to look through. Every time she read about samurais’ era her heart was filling with admiration and misery at the same time. It felt like something was missing. Sometimes she imagined herself in a role of bushi. It was a little game of hers but it was so exciting and felt so right. Of course, she had never told anyone about her little insanity. People would never understand her if she did. The fact that she slept hugging her katana was also one of her little oddities. But she just couldn’t fall asleep if she didn’t hold her sword close to her heart.

**_Chizuru felt secure like that._ **

Several days later Yukimura was wandering in the busy streets of Kyoto in search for an ancient monument. She was absorbed with her deep thoughts and it seemed that she didn’t pay any attention to her surroundings, but her sense of self-defense suddenly alarmed. Chizuru stopped and looked around. Her senses didn’t fail her as she became a witness of a scene of a kidnapping, which was happening on the opposite side of the road.

A young girl stepped out of an elite spa-salon when several man dressed in black suits plopped out of a car and grabbed that girl by her arms. Chizuru watched as that person struggled against the bandits using her little purse and high-heels, but no matter how hard she tried, her fragile complexion was loosing to those “wardrobes” in black. The sense of justice filled Yukimura’s hearts as she rushed towards the criminal scene.

The chocolate-eyed girl grabbed a mop from some random cleaner’s hands, who was mopping the stairs in front of that elite spa-salon. The woman didn’t hear anything since she was listening to her ipod, but there were no limits to her amusement when she saw an unfamiliar girl beating some bad guys with _her_ mop!

The men in black had no chance to react because Chizuru’s attacks were sonic quick and precise. After beating the men up our heroine grabbed the victim’s hand and cried:

“RUN!”

  While they were escaping, those guys came to their senses. One of them ran after the girls but they were lucky enough to jump in the nearest bus and leave the area. When he noticed a retreating vehicle, the bandit only cursed under his breath watching as his target was making fun of him, showing her tongue mockingly through the back window of the bus.

Chizuru sweatdropped by the other girl’s actions.

“Aren’t you scared of them? They tried to kidnap you!” Yukimura demanded.

The other girl just turned her head to show a cheeky smirk.

“Not in this life! They have tried millions of times but always failed. Hmm, but today they were close. I couldn’t predict that they would be brave enough to do their dirty plans in the daylight, not mentioning, in a public place.”

Chizuru’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“So…you mean, it is not for the first time?”

“Of course not!” the other girl grinned, showing her white straight teeth. “You know, I have to thank you for saving me today. I’ve given my bodyguards a day-off today and decided to skip that boring dinner with the prime-minister, replacing it with my visit to a spa-salon--”

But Yukimura interrupted her rumblings with a question:

“Who are they? And why do they want to kidnap you?”

The other girl looked in her serious eyes and saw a strong feeling of determination in them. She sighed and looked upwards, shutting her lips together, that made them look like a little bow.

“They are one of my family’s ill-wishers and competitors of our business. They want to kidnap the only heir of my clan, which is me, and get a ransom along with some important documents. My name is Sakanoue Sen, by the way.”

After the last words the ruby-eyed girl outstretched her right hand for a handshake. Chizuru returned the gesture of politeness unsurely.

“Yukimura Chizuru, it’s nice to meet you, Sakanoue-san.”

“Oh, please, don’t call me that. I feel like an old lady when people call me by my surname,” the victim of the day complained, rolling her eyes and brushing some strands of her dark hair away from her face. “You may call me Sen”.

“Emm…Osen-san then,” Chizuru smiled uneasily at her interlocutor that arched an eyebrow in return.

“Alright, it’s better than Sakanoue-san after all.” Osen sighed in defeat and continued with a smile, “You are very brace, Chizuru-chan. It’s rarity to meet a girl who can use an ordinary mop so skillfully,” and she started to laugh cheerfully.

Chizuru just smiled in return, while her lower eyelid twitched in frustration.

“Thank you, Osen-san, but I advise you to call somebody who can take you home in safety. It’s too dangerous to walk alone in the street after what happened today”.

The rich girl sighed dramatically and took her golden cell-phone out of her purse.

“Okay, I’ll call my personal driver. Well, he is a day-off today, but if you insist…”

And she dialed the man’s number.

“Where can you pick me up?...”

Chizuru watched as the energetic girl started to look around in order to find out what part of the city they were passing by right now.

“Tell him that you will be at my place. I can’t leave you alone, so I am taking you with me,” and Chizuru announced the address. Of course she didn’t plan to bring guests to Saito-senpai’s household, but at the same time her sense of responsibility couldn’t allow her to leave the girl, who had been almost kidnapped that day, alone. She felt that she had to protect her until someone would come and take her home safely.  

While Chizuru was musing about those problems, Osen had already dialed another number and now was whining in the tube like a spoilt child.

“Anata…they tried to kidnap me again today. I was so scared!” she made a simulated sniff as if she really was crying. “I fear to go home. Could you pick me up at my savior’s house? I will give you the address…what? Oh, it doesn’t matter! I will wait for your arrival there even if it takes you 2 hours to get to Kyoto. I love you! Ja ne!”

Yukimura could only blink in bewilderment. The victim of the day had just told Saito-senpai’s address to absolute strangers! The girl dropped her face on her palms in astonishment. Saito-senpai would get upset and angry with her for sure…she could see that!

“I have just called my fiancé. He lives in Tokyo but goes on business trips to Kyoto quite often.”

Chizuru’s train of gloomy thoughts was interrupted by Osen’s voice.

“I’m so happy, that today is the day of his next business trip. He is on his way here. That’s why I phoned him. You know…I miss him so much and due to our businesses we can’t see each other whenever we want,” the long-haired girl’s face clouded a little in disappointment. “Oh, Chizuru-chan, I love him so much! He is a great person and he is very manly too. But most of all I love his noble bearing, he reminds me of a high-ranked samurai. At first, when my father announced that I have to marry him to enlarge our business, I got so upset, even desperate. I thought that I will never fall in love with a man who needs me only as a tool. But I was wrong,” her voice got gentler and more quite. “I fell in love with him the moment I saw him in our guest-room for the first time.”

Chizuru listened to her words very carefully. Osen seemed to be really very in love with her promised fiancé: her eyes got softer and a pleasant smile found its way on her lips. As far as Yukimura understood, Osen was an heir of some rich magnate. The moment they met, our heroine noticed that Sakanoue-san looked more like a wild rose, but now, after hearing her love-story and watching the changes in her expression, Chizuru had to change her first impression about the other girl. Osen-san was a lonely girl who was lack of parent’s attention, she was like a fragile flower that needed proper treatment. Right now the girl looked very beautiful and vulnerable and it was a surprise for Chizuru to see how love could change people to a better side. But the most interesting in that entire situation was that Yukimura couldn’t get it, why Osen was telling her all this.

“He is the head of his family’s zaibatsu,” continued the rich maiden, starting to play with her fingers childishly. “My parents have always dreamed of such a successful union of two great families in whole Japan. But you know…even if he was a common guy, I think, I would have fallen for him anyways. I feel so empty when he is away and so alive when he is by my side. And now, I think that if those bad guys have really succeeded in kidnapping me today, I would have lost a chance to meet him today. Thank you, Chizuru-chan, for saving me from those bandits. Now I want to introduce my savior to my fiancé”.

All Chizuru could do was only showing an uneasy smile and announcing that they had reached the right bus-stop.  

 

**_OooooO_ **

****

 

**_Kazama Chikage loved speed._ **

That was why he changed his cars almost every week. That was because they were very slow for him and he felt like traveling on foot. The young heir of Kazama Zaibatsu was fond of quickness, but even driving Maseratti wasn’t enough to fulfill his lust for speed.

All sport-cars were slow and it annoyed him to no limits. It was strange and confusing, but 300 ml/h seemed to be like 30 ml/h to him. He didn’t know why he had such dangerous obsession with high-speed. The only thing he knew that he felt very empty and listlessly without it.

Kazama was on his way to Kyoto when his platinum cell-phone rang, showing a picture of his fiancée on the display. He talked to her and promised to pick her up at her savior’s house.

Hmm…those bastards never gave up, still trying to kidnap her for a ransom. Those morons…

The blond man tsked, narrowing his ruby eyes. Maybe it would be better to take her to Tokyo? So…she would be always under his personal protection. No, her traditional father would never allow his daughter to live with a man, even if that man was her fiancé, before the wedding.

Chikage passed another sharp corner, sending his car into a drift.

Then, there was only one solution to this dilemma. They had to get married earlier than the promised date. Yeah…that was it. His lips curved into an arrogant and self-satisfied smirk. They would discuss this idea when he got to the place.

**_After all he needed heirs and the earlier the better…._ **

    

**_OooooO_ **

 

 

When Saito got home, he was very surprised to see a white limo by the gates of his household. The young man parked his exclusive black Toyota Camry and headed to the front door where he met Yamazaki.

“Good evening, Saito-sama,” the violet-eyed man bowed in respect.

“Good evening, Yamazaki-san. Whose limo is that?” the owner of the mansion asked, pointing at the luxury vehicle near the gates. “I don’t remember anyone of my father’s companions having such cars. Did anything happen while I was away?”

The butler followed his master towards the house, explaining the situation.

“Yukimura-dono has a guest. I tried to contact and inform you, but your mobile phone didn’t answer.”

“I see,” Saito exhaled calmly and entered the guest-room, where he found two young girls sitting on the traditional pillows on the floor and drinking some herbal tea.

When Chizuru noticed him standing in the doorway, she stood up, almost jumped up, from her seat and bowed apologetically to her host.

“Saito-senpai! Good evening! Sorry for my rudeness about not asking for your permission. I tried to call you several times but your phone didn’t answer…and…” but her chatters were interrupted by his unruffled yet friendly voice.

“Everything is alright, Yukimura-san. I was at a lecture and I had to turn off my mobile phone. I am glad to see that you made friends in Kyoto. Your guest is my guest,” then he averted his gaze from a confused and embarrassed girl and looked at the stranger, that stood beside Chizuru.

“The name is Saito Hajime. Hajime mashite,” and he bowed politely to the girl that was showing a lovely smile.

“I’m Sakanoue Sen, it’s my pleasure to meet chief Saito’s son in person. I am very honoured, Saito-san,” and she bowed in return.

“Saito-senpai…ano…” Chizuru made a little step forward to win his attention. “Osen-san has been almost kidnapped by some group of men in black suits today. We managed to escape but I couldn’t leave her alone, so I brought her along.”

The young man’s crystal-blue eyes showed a live interest when he listened to the girl’s explanations.

“Yes, if not for Chizuru-chan’s help, I don’t know what they would have done to me. She is my savior!” the rich girl exclaimed, hugging Chizuru’s arm.

“I…I did nothing…” the younger girl blushed in embarrassment.

Saito could imagine the crime scene the girls had faced today. He, like no one else, could imagine what a tragic end Yukimura-san could have met in that situation: if they wanted to kidnap Sakanoue-san, there was a low chance that they would harm her or cause her any pain…but Yukimura-san… they could kill her without any hesitation as she happened to become a witness who tried to stop their criminal plans to that. Saito’s imagination showed him a picture of unmoving Chizuru, who lay in a pool of her own blood with a motionless mask of death on her face. His jaw squared, as a lump stuck in his throat that he couldn’t swallow. He felt as everything inside of him froze because of a sudden fear for her life. He couldn’t understand why those strange and scary thoughts visited his mind. Maybe it was because he felt responsibility for Yukimura-san and her safety as she was a guest at his house…

Saito lifted his gaze on the girls. They noticed that his eyes looked too thoughtful and concentrated while his face paled visibly, but before they could utter anything, he began to speak:

“Please, sit down,” the young man gestured them to take their seats at the table. “Yamazaki-san, please, bring us some fresh tea,” the owner ordered calmly.

And as if he appeared out of thin air, Yamazaki nodded and went out of the room.

Saito sat beside Chizuru which surprised the girl to no limits. Usually they sat across from each other when they had dinners together. Little did she know, that while she was musing about the reason of his actions, he threw short yet very intent glances at her in order to make sure that she wasn’t wounded or beaten anywhere. He was very skillful in that technique of examining people’s condition with his eyes, so nobody could even notice his true intentions.

After finishing the secret observation of the open parts of Yukimura-san’s body and noticing that she moved normally, Saito calmed down a little. He was sure now that she didn’t have any injures under her clothes too. Even if she was good in swordsmanship, she was still a fragile girl, who was not protected from a gun or any other weapon.

“Sakanoue-san,” he addressed himself to the guest after a moment of silence, “why didn’t you call the police after today’s accident?” his voice was firm and serious. “It’s very dangerous when it comes to kidnapping people. There may be victims from the side of innocent people in the street.”

“I know…but…” Osen dropped her gaze on the table she was sitting at. “They won’t help. My father hired the best bodyguards to keep me safe from those men, but today it was my fault. I went to the city without telling anyone where I was going and I skipped an important meeting too. I just got so tired of those never-ending cultural evenings, balls, meetings…I just wanted to feel a little of independence, but I’ve never expected those bandits to show up today!”

“It’s really careless of you to behave like this,” was his stern verdict of guilty.

“I know…” was all Osen could utter, lowering her head. “I am very grateful to Chizuru-chan for saving me and I am thankful to your kindness, Saito-san, for letting me stay here until my fiancé comes and take me home…” her voice was wavering as if she could start crying any minute.

Saito decided to compassion upon this rich and spoilt princess. He noticed that her words were sincere and she realized her guilt and carelessness. That was why he gave her a chance to wait for her so-called fiancé and not telling her that her limo was already waiting by the gates of his household.

At that moment the tea was served and pregnant silence filled the air.

“You know, Osen-san,” Chizuru started to speak carefully, “I think, Saito-senpai is right. You must tell the police about those bandits. You can’t keep living, knowing that they still try to fulfill their criminal intentions.”

“This problem concerns us and only us, and we will deal with it ourselves”.

A powerful male voice appeared in the room, crashing down all doubts and points of view.

Osen jumped from her seat when she heard that deep and mysterious voice and rushed to its owner’s side, hugging him lovingly.

“Chika-kun!” she squealed, hiding her face in his firm chest.  “I’m so happy to see you!”

Yamazaki showed up in the doorway, bowing apologetically for the second time that day.

“Forgive me, Saito-sama, for not informing you about the guest’s arrival!”

“It’s alright, Yamazaki-san. You may be free,” the dark-haired young master said calmly, standing up from his seat.

Actually, Saito was disappointed with his butler’s today’s work. He didn’t like when some stranger burst into his house and started to lay down his terms as if _he_ was the master of the house and not Saito himself. But as a good-behaved person, Hajime couldn’t let himself show any signs of irritation. He always looked unruffled and self-disciplined, but sometimes those virtues were hard to keep in place. Especially at the very moment.

Hajime took a deep inhale and placed his firm gaze on a newcomer.

Chizuru hurried to stand up beside Saito-senpai and greet the guest too.

The gaze of the newcomer’s ruby eyes fell on Saito’s face. There was something strange about that blue-eyed guy and the blond man didn’t know what exactly it was.  He seemed familiar but at the same time Chikage was sure that he had never seen that man before.

“Chika-kun, let me introduce my savior!” the rich girl spoke enthusiastically, catching her fiancé’s attention. “This is Yukimura Chizuru-chan. She saved me from those bandits today and brought me here to hide me from them,” Osen pointed at the younger girl, whose face was blushing madly in embarrassment. “And this is Saito Hajime-san. He is famous chief Saito’s son and the owner of this mansion.”

Kazama just nodded in reply. All of his interest was drawn to the brown-eyed girl in front of him. Osen continued speaking, introducing him to the public, but he wasn’t listen anymore. His ruby eyes were examining the fragile girl intently. She looked familiar…too familiar. Where could have he met her before? All his questions vanished the moment their eyes locked. The pieces of his shuttered memory started to gather together, depicting one single picture of a beautiful girl that was very important to his heart.

 The man’s pupils widened in realization. It was like a momentary insight.

It was Chizuru…

**_…his Chizuru…_ **

…the very Chizuru who tried to fool him and get rid of him by trying to kill herself jumping down from a cliff...  

Saito didn’t like that blond. All his senses got alarmed when that man entered the room, and Hajime knew for sure that he didn’t come here with good intentions. The gaze the blond man was sending Chizuru was unacceptable. It looked like he was devouring the girl with his lustful eyes and couldn’t get enough of doing so. As was said earlier, Hajime didn’t like Kazama from the very beginning and now he despised him for staring at Yukimura-san so shamelessly and lewdly. The young man shifted his azure eyes to the fragile dark-haired girl, who was standing next to him like paralyzed, looking at the tall man in front of her.

Kazama’s lips curved into a haughty and self-satisfied smile as he had finally started to realize what exactly was going on. He threw a death glare at Saito, recalling everything that happened between him and Chizuru back then. Heh, so he was safe and sound...and even alive to that… that was strange to Chikage’s eyes.

**_Everything was too strange…._ **

To Kazama’s amusement those azure eyes replied to his impudent glare with a challenging and warning one. He could easily read in those eyes that their owner wanted to protect the girl’s pride and not let him, Kazama, lie a finger on her…but… all those wishes to defend the girl belonged to a man who had no love in his eyes. Yes, that was very interesting. Knowing the Saito that had died and comparing him to this Saito, that was standing next to dear Chizuru, Chikage could say for sure that…

**_…this Saito was absolutely another person._ **

 The Saito he knew loved Chizuru so much that he could give up his life protecting his beloved wife; this younger Saito wasn’t ready to do such sacrifices for her. It was clearly written in his eyes.  

This discovery pleased Kazama. But still there was one problem. It seemed that dear Chizuru didn’t remember him at all. Hmm… than he had to help her bring back her memories.

“Chizuru-chan, please, join us at the dinner on Thursday,” Osen’s cheerful voice filled the room.  “We will be very glad to have your company and thank you for your help today,” continued the rich girl.

“Yes,” Chizuru felt shivers ran down her back as she heard the blond’s deep voice. “It’s a great idea. Let us thank you for saving my precious Sen,” and he looked at the smiling girl to his right.

**_At that very moment his feelings for her vanished as if they had never existed._ **

“Yes, please come, Chizuru-chan. We will be waiting!” Osen insisted.

“I…I don’t know. I will think about it,” Yukimura answered unsurely.

Saito didn’t like that entire situation. His inner voice was crying that something bad was going to happen in the near future. He had never felt anything like that before and it put him on his guard.

Hajime’s train of thoughts was interrupted by Sakanoue-san’s future husband’s speech.

“I am very grateful to both of you for taking care of my hime, but I have an important meeting in an hour, so I’m taking Sen with me,” Chikage said and felt as his arm started to lose its blood circulation due to the said girl’s iron embrace.

Saito was about to walk the guests to the exit when his cell phone started to ring. The young man took it out of his jacket and looked at the display. He couldn’t but answer that important phone-call, even though he didn’t want to leave Yukimura-san alone at the moment. Saito sighed, excused himself and called for Yamazaki to walk the guests to the gates. 

“I will see you off too,” Chizuru offered quietly walking towards Yamazaki and the others.

The couple bid their good-byes to the owner of the house and disappeared in the corridor.

When they reached Kazama’s sport-car, Osen hugged Chizuru and after saying good-bye to her, she sat at the passenger seat, leaving her fiancé and her savior alone. Yamazaki was watching the scene by the gates, standing several steps behind Yukimura-dono.

“We will be waiting for you on Thursday. Come, Sen will be glad to see you again,” Chikage said powerfully, making her understand that she had no other choice but to obey. “And it was very brave of you to save Sen, Chizuru,” the way he pronounced her name made the girl’s stomach twitch. “We will see you later,” he sent her the last mysterious gaze before getting into the car. “Take care, Chizuru.”

With those last words the couple drove off from Saito’s mansion, leaving a bewildered girl standing on her spot unmoving.

For some unknown reason she felt panic terror towards that man with ruby eyes. 


	6. Her Fate

** Chapter 6 **

**_Her fate_ **

 

That night Chizuru had a nightmare. In her bad dream she was running away from someone who wanted to catch her. That someone had ruby eyes and a sadistic smile. She tried her hardest to hide from that awful person, but couldn’t find a place that could shelter her; he found her everywhere.

Also she knew that there was someone that could save and protect her. Chizuru ran faster, glancing from side to side to find that only one, she loved with all her heart.

**_But there was nobody around. There was only enveloping darkness._ **

Strength was slowly leaving her body as she fell on the hard ground on the edge of despair.

“Please, help me! Don’t leave me alone here! I beg you, save me from him!” she kept on crying in the air.

 

**OooooO**

 

In the middle of the night Hajime woke up from the sound of someone’s scream. He couldn’t comprehend what was going on at first, because his mind was still clouded from the sleep, but when he heard another silent cry, the young man jumped up from his bed and ran out of his bedroom in search of the source of the sound. His absolute hearing brought him to the door of Yukimura-san’s bedroom. He hesitated to open it at first, thinking that it wasn’t a good idea to burst into an unmarried girl’s private room in the middle of the night, but when he heard another loud howl that was coming from behind the door, his heart refused to obey those rules of politeness any longer, and the young man resolutely entered the room without knocking. 

Yukimura-san was lying on her futon, tossing and turning, muttering some incoherent phrases in her anxious sleep. Her hair was a mess; her face was wet from tears her closed eyes were losing unconsciously. The blanket was lying somewhere away from her body. The night gown she was wearing got tangled between her thighs, showing a smooth creamy skin of her long slender legs. Hajime got paralyzed to the spot by the view. His eyes widened in shock as he realized that he was staring at his guest all that time since he had crossed the threshold of her room. A feeling of disgust to himself burnt in his chest. Yes, he was angry with himself for behaving in such rude way towards the girl. But there was a fact that made him very furious with himself too, and it was that he found Yukimura-san very attractive and breathtakingly beautiful in the moment of her vulnerability. And still...he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Only the next loud sob that escaped her mouth forced him to come back to reality.

He rushed to her side and knelt beside her trembling body. Hajime scolded himself mentally: he didn’t even notice that she was shivering while he was looking at her so shamelessly. What was wrong with him?!

Trying to avoid looking at her body, which was partly revealed by the nightgown, Saito reached out for the blanket, that was lying aside from the futon, and covered the girl carefully, hiding her form till the shoulder line. Then he sighed in relief. He didn’t know why, but he felt very hot right now and he didn’t like that suffocating feeling at all. The young man placed his sharp eyes on her troubled face. It seemed that the dream she was having caused her too much pain and torture.

The moonlight percolated through the window and lightened the room a little. At that very moment the young master of the household noticed a katana, which lay beside the girl’s sleeping place. The katana had a red silky ribbon that was tied to the hilt. The blade looked exactly like his family relic at first sight. It surprised the young man to no limits, but he decided to think about it later. The girl was still sobbing and crying in her sleep and she needed help…his help…

The blue-eyed young man took her by the shoulders and started shaking them carefully.

“Yukimura-san, wake up!”

His first attempt wasn’t successful as she burst into more tears and mumbled something in her sleep. Hajime bent down closer to her head to listen to what she was muttering. To his great surprise he heard her begging for help and protection.

Hajime had never faced such complicated situations in his life before but his instincts were telling him that he must bring her to consciousness no matter what. Confused and hesitant, he lifted her upper body by the shoulders and started to shake her harder.

“Wake up! You’re having a bad dream, Yukimura-san. Please, open your eyes!”

And as if it happened with the help of some magic, the girl’s puffy eyelids flew open. She stared at him for some moments, not fully comprehending where she was. Her brown orbs were glittering from wetness in the semi-darkness. Her bangs were glued to her forehead and her lower lip was trembling from hysteria as well as her whole body.

He could say that she was still under the power of bad illusions she had been seeing in her nightmare. Chizuru was shivering uncontrollably, gulping the air with her mouth. Saito didn’t know what got into him, but the next moment he wrapped his strong arms around the girl’s slim body and pressed her head to his firm chest. He didn’t say anything, nor did she. He could feel his black silky pajama getting wetter and wetter with her unsubsided tears and cold sweat. But he didn’t care. Her tensed body started relaxing slowly and he was glad that he could help. Then her breathing began changing from rapid to steady, and finally, she stopped shivering in his arms.

Little did he know that Yukimura-san was facing dilemma right now. Her right ear was pressed to his firm broad chest and she could hear his steady rhythmic heartbeat very clearly, that sounded like a lullaby to her. Deep inside Chizuru knew that she had heard that same magical sound somewhere before. But where exactly? She didn’t know. She had never been so close to anyone like she was now. The calming sound in her right ear made her melt in Saito’s embrace and Chizuru started drifting to sleep again. It was so warm and cozy sitting like that, that the brown-haired girl didn’t want to let the source of this warmth go. So, she hugged it gently, pressing herself to it even harder.

Azure eyes widened in surprise as he felt her slender arms wrapping themselves around his torso. The sensation was very pleasant and new, he noted. He had never been hugged by a girl before, but somehow he was glad that the first girl who dared to embrace him was Yukimura-san. He didn’t know why, but it felt really very nice and he liked the sensation. Saito noticed that every time she was near, he got overwhelmed with strange indescribable feelings, that he didn’t know how to call. But what was obvious as the daylight, was that he enjoyed her company, he found her interesting and very educated, yet she looked mysterious to his eyes. Saito couldn’t understand his own feelings towards the girl, but he analyzed himself and realized that he was getting drawn to her like a magnet. He had never felt this way before during his encounters with females from his circle of acquaintance.

But no matter how good it felt to be in the captive of her gentle embrace, he couldn’t let himself stay at Yukimura-san’s room for the whole night. He came here only to make sure if everything was alright. And now, when she had finally calmed down after her nightmare, he had no reason and right to stay here any longer. Yes. It was what his consciousness was telling him, but his heart had another point of view. Deep inside, Hajime wanted to stay and protect this vulnerable girl’s sleep, save her from bad dreams and scary shadows, and just be there for her if she needed his help.

Of course, he thought that those secret wishes of his were absurd.

“ _I am no one to her to treat her like this,_ ” Hajime scolded himself mentally for letting such bold thoughts cross his mind, and decided to give the girl her needed rest in privacy.

The dark-haired man took her arms away from his body carefully in order not to wake her up and gently lay her petite form on the soft futon. The girl was already sleeping peacefully; her steady breath was a proof of that. Saito covered her with a thin blanket heedfully. His warm hand brushed away the wet strands from her face unconsciously. Then the gaze of his crystal-blue eyes fell on the katana, that was still lying next to the futon. The man took the object in his hands with interest and wielded the katana a little to take a look at the blade. His eyes widened in amusement as he examined it very carefully. There was the same stamp his family’s relic had; the same stamp and on the same spot—right below the hilt. There couldn’t be any mistake. This katana was forged by the same smith who created his family’s treasure, and as far as Hajime knew, all the smith’s works were always in a single copy.

Saito’s gaze travelled back to the sleeping girl’s face. Could it be even possible? The young man put the katana back next to its owner and hurriedly exited the room, closing the door behind him silently. He sighed heavily and brushed his hand against his bangs thoughtfully. He needed to make sure that he wasn’t mistaken. So, the young master headed to the cabinet that was located in the east wing of the house. When he entered it, Saito walked to the wall and opened a portrait of his family that was hanging on the wall. It happened to be a narrow wall safe where the Saitos kept their family’s most treasurable relic.

The moment Hajime took it in his hands, he got absolutely sure about one thing…

**_…she had the very same katana as the Saito dynasty had._ **

But how could it be possible?


	7. Her Anxiety

** Chapter 7 **

**_Her anxiety_ **

 

The next day at noon he heard a tiny knock on the door of his cabinet.

“Come in,” the young man replied, never leaving his eyes from the document on the screen.

“Saito-senpai,” Chizuru stepped in the cabinet Saito was working at. He looked up from the monitor of his laptop and placed his light-blue eyes on the girl. She seemed to be uncomfortable judging by her uneasy expression.

And she really was… and the reason was very simple. The moment she walked in the cabinet, she saw him sitting at the wooden table, wearing simple yet very elegant spectacles on his nose. The young man’s face was as concentrated as always and those spectacles made him look even more unique, adding some special features to his natural handsomeness. Suddenly Chizuru felt her cheeks getting warmer and that fact didn’t make her any happier. She scolded herself mentally for daring to think about her host in such a freely way. 

“I… wanted to ask you for advice, Saito-senpai,” she said uncertainly, closing the door behind her and looking down to hide her red face from his sight. The girl shut her eyes for a moment and made a deep inhale to calm down a little, still scolding herself for her secret thoughts.

The young man gestured her to sit at the working table he was currently sitting at himself. She did as she was offered.

“Does anything bother you, Yukimura-san?” Hajime asked politely, taking off his  steel-rimmed spectacles.

“I didn’t know that you wear glasses…they…they really suit you,” the girl smiled shyly. Her innocent remark made the man’s cheeks colour light-pink.

“I use them only when I work,” he tried to sound indifferent, but, actually, he felt a little flattered that she liked his style. “So, what did you want to ask, Yukimura-san?”

“-Oh,” her face clouded as she remembered the true reason of her visit. “Osen-san has called me today to remind me about the dinner on Thursday. I was in the library at that moment and couldn’t talk, so I have to call her and give her my answer”.

He listened to her attentively, placing his elbows on the table and laying his chin on his crossed fingers.

“I…don’t feel like I did something splendid to be treated so highly, that’s why, Saito-senpai,” she gazed at him with her sad chocolate eyes, “I thought that maybe you could give me a piece of advice? What should I do? Should I go there or should I decline the offer?”

“I am not an adviser, Yukimura-san,” he said evenly, looking at her with his examining azure eyes, “if I were you, I would not go there, but you have to decide it yourself whether you want to join the dinner or not”.

Chizuru nodded her head in comprehension.

“I don’t feel like going there, but I don’t want to look rude in Osen-san’s eyes either”.

He sighed and laid his crossed hands on the table, averting his gaze from her.

“Then, it seems, you have already made up your mind”.

“I am very sorry for disturbing you with my problems, Saito-senpai!” Chizuru hurried to beg for forgiveness.

Her childlike exclamation brought a light, almost invisible, smile to his lips.

“No, it is alright. I am glad I could help you”.

“You helped me a lot! Thank you very much!” She stood up and bowed to the young man with a gentle smile on her lips. “I’ll be going than. I will meet you in the dining room in an hour”. 

“Yes,” was all he answered.

Hajime watched thoughtfully as she turned to leave, but before she could open the door his voice interrupted her intentions.

“Yukimura-san,” the tall man stood up from the chair and walked to her form. His sudden way of action made her heart beat as fast as a little bird’s and she had no clue why. “You have an ancient katana. I saw it yesterday, when I came to ascertain you at night.”

After hearing his last words Chizuru’s eyes widened in terror.

“You were in my room last night…” she uttered almost soundlessly, but he still heard it.

“Yes, I heard you screaming and decided to check-up your safety. But it turned out that you were having a nightmare and…”

She didn’t hear his explanations anymore, because it wasn’t necessary to know the rest of the story. Her face got bright red and she pressed her palms to her hot cheeks, hiding her face from his gaze in shame. It was awfully embarrassing! She wasn’t even married to be having a man in her private room!

“So, it wasn’t a dream!”

“Eh? A dream?” now it was Saito’s turn to get surprised. “What dream?”

Chizuru looked up at him very slowly only to see total bewilderment on his face. It was a rarity to see Saito-senpai standing in astonishment like that. But how could she tell him that she was dreaming of him last night? In her nightmare he came and saved her from that dark shadow with red eyes that was hunting after her during her sleep. And now…it turned out to be truth. Her respected host really did come and hugged her, trying to sooth her last night. So, that meant that she wasn’t dreaming when she felt his warm embrace and heard his calming voice. Could her shame get even worse than that? She didn’t know what to do now; she could feel his inquiring gaze on her as if he was asking for explanations. What could she say?

“I…I am very grateful to you, Saito-senpai,” the words got stuck in her throat and didn’t want to come out. Chizuru swallowed hard and tried to continue, “for taking care of me last night. I had a nightmare and a scary one, so..emmm… thank you for helping me out,” while saying those words, the girl didn’t look at him but at her fingers, which she started to play with the moment he asked her about that dream.

“Actually, I did nothing…” by the way he said it, Chizuru could hear that he was embarrassed too. It was such an awkward situation and neither he nor she did know how to behave.

Saito was a sober-minded young man. He realized that he made a huge mistake by bringing up the last night’s incident in Yukimura’s room. The least he could do now was to smooth the sharp ends in their relations. And he could do it by changing the topic of their conversation, in sphere of which he had a great success.

“Yukimura-san, how long do you have that katana?” his composed and content voice broke the unbearable silence. Chizuru looked up at him a little surprised by his sudden question and then answered:

“Since I remember myself,” she said casually, blinking several times in puzzlement. “Why do you ask, Saito-senpai?”

“It seems, that you treasure it, Yukimura-san,” the young man’s lips showed a shadow of smile.

Chizuru thought for a moment before she began to speak again:

“I don’t really remember when I get it. My family seems to have had it for a long time, but I can’t say for sure whose it was before. I know it may sound strange, but I feel like there is some kind of bond between the katana and me. I feel calmer when I hold it, and it always chases my fears away”.

Saito listened to her story very attentively, and still he couldn’t understand why there were two absolutely identical blades. Well, he couldn’t tell for certain that they were 100 per cent identical, since it was dark in the room and he had no chance to examine the girl’s katana more properly, but as far as he noticed, they were very much alike and had the same stamp. The train of his musing thoughts was interrupted by the maiden’s melodic voice:

“I…I think I should be going right now. See you later, Saito-senpai. And thank you very much for your help!”

Her uneasy smile couldn’t go past his sharp eyes.

“You’re welcome. By the way, I haven’t told you yet,” Hajime’s voice got a little more serious, “I have to leave for a couple of days. They need me as my family’s representative, so I will be absent till Thursday’s evening”.

Chizuru’s face fell a little when she heard the unexpected news.

“Oh, and when are you leaving, Saito-senpai?” she asked trying to sound cheerfully, but failed, since her voice betrayed her, giving out her disappointment.

“Today at 8 p.m.” was his sharp reply.

“A-alright then, I won’t disturb you any longer. I will see you at the dinner. Arigato for your help again, Saito-senpai,” she sent him a gentle smile and walked out of the cabinet, leaving the young man standing there alone.

Something was strange. He could feel it but couldn’t explain it. Yukimura Chizuru…

**_…everything that concerned that girl was a mystery…_ **

Another sphere Hajime Saito was good at was solving such mysteries.

 

 

**OooooO**

Thursday had changed Wednesday, but the time flew by very slowly without Saito-san. Chizuru caught herself on the thought that it was very lonely without her land-lord around. She realized that she missed him a lot. She couldn’t say that they were close friends, no, she respected him deeply and was very glad that she got a chance to know such interesting and educated person as Saito-senpai. Chizuru noted that when she returned home, she had to thank Nagakura-sensei for this meaningful encounter in her life. But still it felt lonely without Saito-senpai. The girl missed their conversations and small debates, their talks about philosophy and fate. Chizuru tried to replace those lonesome feelings with studying, but in the end her mind got defeated with the thoughts of her senpai.

“When did I get so attached to him?” the girl kept asking herself.  “Soon, I will leave Kyoto and return home”. But the mere thought of leaving her handsome blue-eyed host’s house was causing real torture to the girl’s gentle soul. She had never felt that way before and couldn’t give a name to those strange emotions. What exactly was the reason of her depression: a forthcoming separation with her senpai or her leaving the ancient capital of Japan?  Yukimura sighed in defeat. She didn’t know the answer to that question.

Chizuru looked up at the clock on the wall. She had to hurry up if she didn’t want to be late for the evening. A couple of hours later the girl was ready for the event. She was so nervous about the dinner that she was going to share with people of high society. You couldn’t say that Chizuru didn’t know how to behave around the cream of society. Her father was a famous scientist after all and sometimes she had to accompany him to different conferences and cultural evenings. She could make a good first impression of herself, but the problem was that she didn’t like showing herself in a public. She better stayed at home and read a historical book than joining some dinner with rich and influential people.

The girl made a long and heavy sigh, looking at her reflection in a mirror. She wore a modest but very elegant silky dress of dove-white colour, there were shoes on average heels on her feet and a small purse in her hands, which was the same light-pink colour as her necklace and shoes. Her hair was taken in a high pony-tail, decorated with a beautiful sparkling hair-clip. She was ready to go, her inner voice was telling her not to though, but Chizuru tried to ignore that voice. She didn’t want to upset Osen-san with her absence. 

When the girl was about to exit the house, she heard a familiar voice.

“Have a nice pastime, Yukimura-dono,” said the butler.

“Oh,” Chizuru turned around to face the brown-haired man. “Thank you, Yamazaki-san, I will try to return by 9 p.m. Please, tell Saito-senpai not to wait for me for the dinner,” she said with a smile.

“I will,” Yamazaki answered with a bow.

“Arigato. So, I will be going then,” she made several steps towards the door, but before leaving the room she heard the butler’s voice again.

“The car is already waiting for you.”

“Oh, really? Thank you”.

And indeed, a black Rolls-Royce was parked by the gates and was ready to take her to the place, where the event of the evening would be held.

30 minutes later she crossed the threshold of an expensive restaurant that was located in the area Chizuru hadn’t been to yet, but still she knew that that area of the city was very old and lots of rich people lived and ran their business there.

She was met by a broad-shouldered man with long red hair, taken in a low pony-tail.

“Good evening, Yukimura-san. My name is Amagiri and I’m the owner of this restaurant. It’s my pleasure to have you as an important guest here,” the man said politely and showed her the way with his hand. “Please, follow me”.

“Arigato,” was all Chizuru could utter due to unexpectedness she was currently feeling.

Amagiri-san took her to the 3d floor—the highest floor of the building—and led her to the dining hall with a big table in the middle that was already served. There was no one in the dining hall, only a single man who was standing by a giant aquarium with his back facing the newcomers.

Suspicion and a very bad feeling sneaked into Chizuru’s heart as she noticed the colour of that man’s hair. It was pure blond. And all her fears proved the moment her escort addressed himself to the man.

“Kazama-sama, Yukimura-san has arrived”.

Chizuru’s pupils dilated in silent panic. She didn’t know why she was afraid of the blond, but she just did. She watched as the man dressed in a traditional white yukata, embroidered with golden pattern, turned to face them gracefully and made several steps forward.

“Thank you, Amagiri-san. You may be free for now,” Kazama said powerfully, shifting his gaze to the fragile girl, which looked very tensed and hesitant. His lips curved into a sly smirk.

“Have a nice dinner,” the red-haired man said with a bow and left the dining hall.

The moment they stayed alone, Chikage gestured Chizuru to take her seat at the table. He pulled a chair for her gallantly, but she didn’t hurry to take the invitation.

“Where is Osen-san?” was her serious and firm question, she felt like her stomach got frozen in fear though.

The blond stayed motionless, still offering her to sit.

“I asked you a question,” her voice sounded firm and confident but it needed a great effort from her side to force it sound like that.

“You are really brave enough to speak with me this way,” he said finally, straitening himself and sending her a mysterious yet mesmerizing gaze of his dark-ruby eyes. “Let’s say that Sen couldn’t make it for today’s dinner. An important meeting required her personal presence that’s why she had to leave for Osaka today. So, maybe you will take your seat now?”

Of course he didn’t tell her that it was him, who had sent Sen and her parents to attend that important meeting. Sen didn’t want to go, referring that she had to share a dinner with Chizuru, but Kazama was sly enough to lie to her, telling her that he had already called Yukimura and canceled the dinner. But in reality it wasn’t canceled.

**_It was just a trap for dear Chizuru._ **

Chizuru looked around and didn’t see anyone else in the dining hall. She swallowed hard and looked him in the eyes.

“If Osen-san isn’t here, then I have no reason to stay here any longer. Excuse me,” with those words she turned to leave, and even managed to make several steps towards the door, but a sudden pain in her arm made her stop on her tracks and cry out loud.

Kazama grabbed her by the forearm roughly and tightened his grip. He pressed the girl’s body to his and hissed warningly.

“You won’t leave this place until we talk”.

With those words he threw her on the chair, which slipped backwards under the weight of her body and force. Silent terror was written on her paled face as she watched the man’s approach.

“Now, dear Chizuru,” he started, his eyes as sharp as katana, “don’t try to pretend that you don’t remember anything.”

The girl looked up at him uncomprehendingly.

“What do I have to remember?” she asked finally, sending him a surprised gaze.

“About us. You and me.”

Chizuru’s eyes widened in shock after hearing that statement.

“What are you talking about?! I see you for the second time in my life!”

Chikage walked closer to her and grabbed her by the chin, forcing the girl to look straight into his ruby eyes.

“Don’t try to fool me. Don’t even dare to tell me that you don’t remember about burying your husband and those apology for friends,” when he mentioned those people his face turned awry , “about asking me to give you 3 days to do it and then you would come with me? I kept my promise, Chizuru, and gave you the needed time, but you…” his grip on her chin tightened as his eyes started to glow with dangerous flames, “you decided to get rid of me by jumping off that cliff. You preferred death instead of becoming my mate! And when I was trying to save you, something strange happened: I lost my power and skills! And my next meeting with you occurred in that weakling’s house”. He paused for a moment to make a deep inhale and then asked the girl in a smooth, a little pained tone. “What happened to us, Chizuru? What did separate us and make us forget about each other?”

He let go off her chin roughly and made several steps backwards. Her face expressed fear and confusion, while her eyes were widened in disbelieve.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. It can’t be true!” she cried, shaking her head as if it could help her to forget his words. “Everything you’ve said doesn’t make any sense!”

“What did you do, Chizuru?” he continued his questions, not paying attention to her complains. “How did you manage to send us to this place? Now I don’t know where we are and, more importantly, who we are.”

Kazama took a knife from the table and lifted a white sleeve on his arm only to cut his skin with a sharp blade of the knife. His wrist covered with crimson liquid that started to drop on the floor.

“Do you see it?” he said showing his injured wrist to her. “It continues bleeding, when it has to heal immediately! We were not humans, Chizuru. Neither you, nor me. But after your attempt of killing yourself I turned into a mere human”.

“I don’t believe you!” she exclaimed, dropping her lost gaze on her knees. “Not a single word of yours...”

An insane laugh filled the air in the hall.

“You recalled everything, don’t you?” the man came closer and lifted her face by the chin one again, but this time in a gentle way. “You can’t run away from me, Chizuru. He is dead. You have nowhere to go. That snotnose Saito is not your killed husband and he will never love you like Saito of Shinsengumi did,” his voice was quite and hypnotically calm, yet it still sounded like he was ordering her to obey. “You may try to live in illusion, but in reality you will always know that you lie to yourself. Let’s return to the world where we belong together. You know how to do it, don’t you?”

Those last words were said in a whisper in her very ear. His hot breath on her skin sent shivers down her spine. His hand lay on her cheek and started to caress it tenderly, while his other hand found her pony-tail and released the girl’s luxury hair from its bondage, letting it fall on her shoulders and back. Chizuru sat like paralyzed. She felt his proximity, his touches, his breath but couldn’t make a move. Only when he showed his face before hers again, she managed to look up at him.

“You are even more beautiful with your hair down,” Chikage said with a self-satisfied smirk. “That pathetic copy of Saito will never treasure you the way you deserve to be. He may have identical appearance with your dead husband, but he is absolutely another person. You are mine, Chizuru, and you have always been. The destiny itself wants us to be together.”

Those words made a sobering effect on her shattered mind. She sent him a gaze full of disgust and announced boldly:

“I don’t belong to anyone, so, leave me alone! And I don’t believe all that nonsense you’ve told. I am going home! Back off!” she cried desperately, standing up from the chair and heading towards the door, passing his form.

“You may go now, but you _do_ understand, Chizuru, that you don’t have a home to go,” Chikage threw those last words, filled with irony, at her back. “I won’t stop you now, but I won’t let you escape this time either.”

Those words of his sounded like a doom to Chizuru. She bit her lower lip in anguish and ran out of the dining hall, leaving the smirking blond behind.

**_He would let her go now….but he didn’t plan to wait for too long._ **

They needed to return to their world and he would definitely find the way to do it no matter what.

Chikage took out his cell phone and dialed a number of his personal security.

“Watch after her, but don’t reveal yourselves. Make sure she will get to the place safe and sound”.

**_He was sure that today she remembered everything. He read it in the depth of her eyes._ **


	8. Her Decision

** Chapter 8 **

**_Her Decision_ **

 

Chizuru ran out of the building, forgetting her purse inside, but she didn’t care. Only when she got to the central street she slowed down her pace. The girl’s eyes were losing hot pearls of tears. She wandered aimlessly about an unfamiliar area as her heart was bleeding and didn’t want to stop doing so.

She remembered. She remembered everything, every detail of her life before she got to this strange world. Chizuru recalled the forgotten memories the very moment she saw Kazama’s blood on his injured wrist, but she didn’t want him to know it, so, she pretended that she didn’t comprehend what he was talking about.

**_But she did…_ **

The memories of her killed husband ran through her mind, they lingered on and on, while she tried to smooth the pain in her heart. She was losing sanity slowly… She remembered his crystal-blue eyes, his beautiful smile, meaningful talks, caring gaze, strong yet gentle embraces, soft yet so sensual kisses that took her to unknown heights she never knew could ever exist. But everything had disappeared the moment the enemies took her beloved from her.

**_Hajime-san was gone forever…_ **

Chizuru couldn’t hold back her sobs and squalls anymore. She cried her poor heart out, standing in the almost empty street of the night town. She didn’t notice as her body started shivering from the coolness of the summer rain. She didn’t notice that it started raining in the first place. All the poor widow knew was that she had lost everything in her life and she had nowhere to go. All her peaceful life she had had before today’s event was a lie, a mirage that had never existed from the beginning. Kazama was right: they were strangers to this world. But how did they appear here? The last thing she remembered, before recalling everything, was Hajime-san’s image in the air. And he was calling for her, but then… everything went black.

Kazama made her remember her former life but she wasn’t happy about it. It was better to live in illusions than in cruel reality where you were a widow, chased by a certain blond who had a strong wish to have pure-blooded heirs…

**_Heirs…_ **

Hajime-san had told her once that he wanted to have a son and a daughter; and Chizuru knew that he would be a decent father to his children. She wanted to give birth to his heirs so much, to bear them under her heart, to bring a new meaning to their family life, but... but…

**_He was gone…_ **

And now she had no place to hide from Kazama. He said he would have her no matter what, and she knew that he would keep his word. He never lied. It was his code of honour. It was back then, it would be like this now.

Chizuru brushed away wet hair from her face and looked up at the raining night sky, where the moon was already showing its face to the world.

She didn’t know how long she had been wandering like that, but it seemed that it had been past midnight already. She had to return back home.

**_Home…_ **

Where was her home? Did she even have it now? It was clear that she couldn’t stay at Saito-senpai’s house any longer and incur more trouble to him. She had to leave for Tokyo as fast as it was possible, and there were two reasons for such decision: Chizuru couldn’t let Kazama have his hands on her respected host, and there was no way she could stay close to the man who had the same appearance as her dear husband’s.  

 A random car stopped by the side of the road she was standing on. Chizuru involuntarily turned her head towards the source of light. A man in his late 60s showed up in the cabin as he opened the side door and said:

“Young Miss, it’s dangerous to walk alone in this late hour and when it rains to that. Get in, I will drive you home”.

The brown-haired girl nodded indifferently and sat inside the vehicle. Her eyes were glassy and emotionless. She didn’t say anything and didn’t even get surprised that the man pushed the gas pedal and drove to unknown destination. Little did Chizuru know that this man was one of Kazama’s stooges that followed his master’s orders to bring the target to the place safe and sound. Actually, the Satsuma clan, that was working for Chikage Kazama as his personal security, was watching after the girl very attentively while she was lost in space. They neutralized all the guys and hentais who had had bad intentions towards the lady during her night walk under the rain, but as they had been ordered, they kept their incognito. After all the clan wanted to give the best results of the operation to their boss. Kazama-sama did so much for their clan by paying their debts and saving them from bankruptcy by doing so. And now they owned the great and wealthy man a lot and the least they could do to repay him was working hard for his well-being and satisfaction.

“We’re at the place, Miss. Take care and don’t walk alone in the nights again, okay?” the leader of the Satsuma clan said politely and got a very quiet “arigato” as a reply, before his passenger opened the door and got out of the car.

The moment she left the cabin, the driver pressed the button on the panel and announced:

“She is at the place. The mission is accomplished”.

 

 

**OooooO**

Sitting in the cabin of the plane Saito Hajime couldn’t but muse about his new discovery. He spent several days in Tokyo as a representative of his family and to his grate luck he met a person he really wanted to meet during this trip. Saito didn’t know if he would be able to see Tanaka-san, his father’s companion during their work in police, but something was telling the young man to take the evidence with him.

Back in Kyoto, Hajime made a crime, well, maybe not a crime, but illegal actions, but still… While Yukimura-san was out for her studying, he entered her room and took her katana. He didn’t know why that thought crossed his mind in the first place, but there was no way back. The young heir of Saito’s dynasty took out a piece of silky fabric out of his pocket and sliced it a little with the sharp blade of the katana. After doing so, he put that piece of fabric into a plastic bag and then laid the weapon on the same spot it had been laying before his coming. After hiding the evidence of his presence he left the room. Then the blue-eyed master of the mansion headed to his cabinet only to repeat the same actions with the Saito’s relic, but using another piece of silk.

He understood that his suspicions were absurd and baseless,  that he had made a mistake, committing illegal deeds towards Yukimura-san’s property, and he was ready to renounce his attempts to solve the mystery of the two blades, if only he didn’t meet Tanaka-san. The man was considered as the best criminalist in whole Japan and he was in good terms with Saito’s fathers, so when he noticed Hajime among the guests, he was very glad to see his good colleague’s son and ask him some questions about his respected parents. The Saito’s heir considered this chance as a fateful one, and decided to ask Tanaka-san for help. He requested the man to make an examination of the two silky pieces of fabric. He needed to know what kind of steel was used to slice them. The experienced expert agreed to help.

Hajime got the folder with the results right before the departure. And now, after he read the expert’s report, the young man didn’t know what to think anymore.

He laid his nape on the headrest of the seat and closed his tired azure eyes. The last lines of the paper sounded in his mind again and again.

 

_“According to the results of examination, the two pieces of silky fabric were sliced with the same cold steel, in the current case--a katana. The steel is dated to 1800s and was forged by master Mishima Akira”._

 

He had to know why she had the same katana as his clan’s, that was why he decided to ask her about it when he came back to Kyoto.

    

 

**OooooO**

 

 

Chizuru walked in the semi-dark corridor and closed the front door behind her silently. She was still lost and frustrated and didn’t pay much attention to her surroundings. Her body functioned on its own as she took off her wet shoes and put on her slippers. The water was dropping from her dress, hair and body creating a big pool on the wooden floor. But the girl didn’t notice the mess she was making. She was about to head towards the staircase when suddenly the light of a night-lamp blinded her, so she had to screw up her eyes for a moment.

“Okaeri, Yukimura-san,” Chizuru heard the voice she thought she would never be able to hear again. It was her dear husband’s voice and it made her heart tighten in her chest.

She hurriedly opened her eyes only to see his face, to run into his arms and embrace him, to make sure that it wasn’t a dream, that he was alive and…

“Hajime-san!” she exclaimed, her voice full of tenderness and joy.

But when her eyes focused on the young man that stood before her, the girl’s face suddenly lost its colour.

He had the same appearance, the same voice and posture, but…

**_…it wasn’t her husband…_ **

This young man was looking at her with surprise and concern in his light-blue eyes. He didn’t have that warm and gentle gaze her Hajime-san was gifting her with every time he saw her.

Chizuru eyes widened as a shadow of fear appeared in them. He wasn’t Saito yet he looked like him.

**_He was another false illusion of this strange world…_ **

…he and all the members of Shinsengumi she knew here: Okita-senpai, Todou-kun, Nagakura-sensei, Harada-sensei, Hijikata-san, Sannan-san and even Yamazaki-san.

But all of them were killed! How could it be possible that they were alive here? And this man that resembled her of her beloved husband…

“Yukimura-san! Did anything happen?” his voice was filled with worry.

Merely the sound of his voice made her believe that he was **_him._** It was like the river of emotions disturbing her inner peace. What made her think this man was her beloved husband when dear Hajime-san was dead and nothing could bring him to life? Once Chizuru believed he was gone, she corrupted from within, she lost the meaning to live. So why did she see the face she longed to see and shower with her light kisses right before her eyes at the moment? Please, somebody, save her from this nightmare! Don’t let her lose her mind!

“Yukimura-san! Please, answer me! Are you alright?” he had no strength to hold back. The young man couldn’t stand seeing her like that, so he made a step towards her shaking form to make sure that she wasn’t wounded or anything, but…

…the girl stepped backwards as if she was afraid of him 

 

 

**OooooO**

 

 

Saito was very surprised that Yukimura-san came back that late that night. He couldn’t sleep because he was worried about her. At first, the Saito’s heir felt very excited to know the truth about the katanas, but then he got really concerned about Yukimura-san’s absence. Yamazaki-san told him that Yukimura-san had promised to be back by 9 p.m. but it was already after midnight. Hajime tried to call her several times but his guest’s cell-phone was turned off.

He had a bad feeling about that dinner from the very beginning and now, when he met her in the doorway, standing all lost and emotionless, not mentioning wet from head to toe, he got really scared that the blond could do something bad to the fragile girl. Saito didn’t trust that man with lustful eyes.  The only thing that held him back from starting searching for Yukimura-san was the thought that Osen-san was there too. Saito shifted his blue eyes from Yukimura-san’s face to her dress and got paralyzed by the shocking view: the thin white silk got glued to the girl’s body like a second skin and due to wetness, the fabric became transparent and now all her feminine shapes and curves could be easily seen through. Even her lacy underwear didn’t save the situation, since it was wet too.

He lifted his horror-stricken gaze on her face again the very moment she opened her eyes and called him by his given name. Her words amused him to no limits. Yukimura-san had never addressed herself to him by calling him by his given name. But the moment he found her eyes, he noticed that there was great terror in her mirrors of soul. That kind of emotion could be seen only in the eyes of those, who were scared of something to death. But in this case it wasn’t something, but someone…--him. She was afraid of him and her reaction was proving his deduction. The blood in his veins froze. What could have happened to Yukimura-san that made her behave like that? Did she get into an accident? There were no visual evidences of any catastrophe on her body. Maybe she became a victim of sexual harassment? The last thought had almost driven him insane as he felt something tensed in his chest.

Hagime made a step towards the shaking girl to make sure that she was all right. It was a reflex, an action made by the instinct.

“Yukimura-san, did anything happen? Please, Yukimura-san, answer me! Are you alright?” he asked, praying for a negative answer. But he didn’t get any because she drew back, almost jumped back, in fear away from him as if he was some kind of a dangerous flame.

Now Saito was really scared for her well-being.

Something terrible **did** happen that evening.

The young man returned to his previous spot, swallowing hard nervously. He didn’t even notice that his hands started to shake a little due to his inner tension.  

“Yukimura-san, is there anything I can help you?” he uttered carefully, watching her reaction with his sorrowful azure eyes.

Chizuru’s lower lip started trembling uncontrollably as long as her whole body. She covered her mouth with her palm to silence the loud sob that escaped her throat. Her chocolate eyes filled with more hot tears, which started to roll down her pale face right away.

**_He looked like him and still it was not him._ **

Chizuru lowered her head in order not to look at her land-lord’s face any longer. It brought too much pain to her heart and soul. Without saying any words, she ran past him and then to the staircase, leaving the young man standing alone in the semi-darkness of the corridor.

Saito turned back to look at her retreating form. There were no words to describe what he was feeling at the moment. Concern? Pain? Worry? No, not even close. He felt like he was killed. She was scared of him and he didn’t know why. Hajime wanted to run after her, to take her into a hug and chase all her fears away, to lend her his strong shoulder she could rely on, but…

…he had no right to do any of those actions, especially after seeing that terror in her eyes.

He had to know what happened to this fragile girl, so that he could try to protect her from the consequences.

He had to…

…but tonight it was impossible. He felt like he had no chance to come close to her since she couldn’t stand his presence right now. Hajime decided to give her some time to calm down, but in the morning they needed to talk. There were too many questions they had to resolve, but at this very minute he had to cool down his burning emotions himself, or else he would go insane by the dawn.

Saito walked in the cabinet, took out the family relic from the safe and headed to the backyard of the mansion. The blade and cool drops of rain would help him to cool down his mind and emotions.

Or so he prayed.


	9. Her Breakdown

** Chapter 9 **

**_Her breakdown_ **

 

 

She could have borne any pain and torture. She wouldn’t have frozen when it snowed. Even the salty flavor of salt would have been sweet to her if only…

…If only he was by her side forever…

…If only the reality was not so cruel…

**_…If only it could bring Hajime-san back to life._ **

Chizuru sat in the darkness of her room, hugging the only real thing she had in this world—her husband’s katana. The tears wouldn’t subside no matter how hard she tried. Her sorrow was inconsolable. The girl went through her beloved man’s death for the second time. At first it was at the battlefield and now—after remembering her past.

**_If only it could be called the past…_ **

They said that time healed everything but the pain in her heart was still too severe. How could it happen? She couldn’t believe that Kazama was telling the truth, she couldn’t remember doing anything that could bring them to this strange world, where…

**_…there was a copy of her dear and tender love…_ **

…where all of Shinsengumi members were alive and lived their own happy lives.

The girl understood that she had to be happy for them, but…

…it didn’t change the fact that she was alone and unneeded. She didn’t belong here. Everything was a mistake, someone’s harsh joke. Who decided to send her here, when she had lost everything in her world and had nothing to gain in this one?

They wouldn’t give her husband back, so why bother making all of this illusion? She would have never fallen a victim of misery if Hajime-san was still alive. She would have never had nightmares if she had him by her side at nights. She would have given everything only to greet him with her usual cheerful “okaeri” one more time. She was ready to give her life away if only it could raise her dear Hajime-san from the dead.

“Do you believe me, Hajime-san, that I would never betray the memory of you?” Chizuru whispered emotionlessly, hugging the katana to her chest like there was no tomorrow. “Will you believe me that I will always revere your spirit? It’s a pity that we can’t be given a second chance, so that I could protect you, Hajime-san,” her body started trembling in hysteria again. Her eyes hurt from the tears they were losing, but Chizuru didn’t care. That pain was nothing comparing to that she felt in her heart. When Hajime-san was gone, the giant world darkened around her.

She didn’t ask for anything. She was happy even if that happiness lasted that little. She was really happy to love her dear husband and being loved by him in return. But…

…her poor soul was tightened with unbearable sadness and yet it was still waiting for something…

**_…for a slightest miracle._ **

The memories of him were still too fresh in her mind. She remembered his azure eyes, his deep and velvet voice that she could never get tired of listening, his rare but sincere smiles, his long smooth dark hair that she loved to comb in the evenings, his strong arms, in tender embraces of which she could forget her own name, his warm and soft lips that whispered all those vows of love and devotion and caressed her during the sleepless nights of their honeymoon. She knew that she was marrying a warrior with unpredictable fate, and they had no guarantee to spend their life in happiness and calmness like common married couples did. But still her heart refused to take the truth. All too soon they were divided.

“I want to be with you, Hajime-san…” Chizuru whined, feeling sudden dizziness. She clenched the katana tightly in her hands. For some unknown reason it was getting hard to breathe. “Please, take me to where you are…” those were the last words she whispered before blacking out and falling on the hard wooden floor.

 

**_OooooO_ **

 

Saito couldn’t sleep that night. The memory of the girl’s frightened face was still playing in his mind. He felt frustrated and concerned. Somehow, the young man felt guilty for not stopping her from attending that misfortunate dinner. He had a bad feeling about it from the very beginning and she even came to him for a piece of advice, but he didn’t do anything to prevent the consequences.

**_He screwed everything up._ **

No matter how much he wanted to go and check if she was alright, he couldn’t…not after that fear in her eyes, when she looked at him in the corridor.

He tried to get rid of bad thoughts, to convince himself that there was nothing to be so worried about, but…he couldn’t but feel responsible for Yukimura-san. She was his guest and something not good had happened to her.

And he didn’t know what exactly it was.

Even the night practice under the pouring rain didn’t help to bring himself together and cool his emotions. There was nothing left to do but wait for the morning, when he would get an opportunity to ask Yukimura-san about the previous day’s events at the dinner.

 

**_OooooO_ **

 

_The night was beautiful. The moonlight fell on the wooden floor of the room, where they shared their futon. It was their second night  as a married couple and Chizuru still couldn’t get used to those new overwhelming sensations her husband made her go though. It felt like she could reach the sky with her bare hand. Even now, lying so close to each other, with her naked back pressed to his flat strong chest, she felt like she was the happiest in the world._

_Chizuru sighed lightly and closed her eyes. The images of their beautiful, full of love and caring, night were still freshly playing in her mind. A blissful smile touched her still swallowed lips as she gently took her sleeping husband’s hand and lay her small one in his, intertwining their fingers._

_A soft kiss on her round shoulder made her realize that she woke him up with her hasty actions._

_“Why are you not sleeping, koishii?” she heard his deep yet so gentle voice by her very ear. His breath was hot and moist against her skin._

_“I was about to…” Chizuru answered, melting in pleasure as the man’s lips started to travel down the back of her neck._

_“You need to take a rest, so, go to sleep,” he whispered, taking her in a tight embrace, “and I will be here and protect your peaceful slumber”._

_The young woman smiled to herself after hearing his words._

_“I love you, Hajime-san,” her voice was filled with care and adoration. “And I want to be with you forever.”_

_“You will, I promise,” Saito answered quietly. The calmness of his tone gave her courage to continue._

_“You know, I was thinking…”_

_“About?”_

_“About our life.” She made a little pause before starting to speak again in a troubled voice. “I am scared, Hajime-san. The time we are living in is very dangerous. I’m worried about you, about our family, our future. Sometimes I wish there were no samurais, wars and onis. I dream of a peaceful world, where we could live our life happily together and grow up our children, where I could be a common mortal human and love Hajime Saito forever. I’m scared, Hajime-san, that something bad may happen and I would lose you,” her voice was trembling slightly from the emotions she tried to hide._

_The young head of the family couldn’t let his wife suffer from anxious thoughts, so he sharply turned her body and lay her on her back, lifting himself up on his outstretched arms and bending above his surprised wife._

_He looked right into her dark glittering eyes, trying to build a contact between their souls._

_“Wherever I am and whenever you need me, remember, that I am always with you no matter how far we may be from each other. I will always be by your side and protect you from any harm. You will never be alone, Chizuru”._

_He sounded serious and determination was clearly heard in his tone. Chizuru watched as her husband’s eyes darkened emotionally with the last words his lips said._

_“Hajime-san…” was all she managed to utter before Saito bent his face down and covered his fragile wife’s mouth with an exciting kiss, that was proving the rightness of his vow._

_The kiss grew deeper and led to tight embraces, the embraces led to sensual touches and the rest of the night was spent collecting stars from the dark-blue sky, that the married couple was gently giving to each other during the night._

 

**_OooooO_ **

 

The next morning Yamazaki told his master that Yukimura-san wouldn’t answer his knockings.

“I have tried several times, but she doesn’t open the door”.

Hajime knotted his eyebrows. Sitting at the dinner table, he hoped to meet the girl before he went to the University, but after hearing Yamazaki’s words he couldn’t find peace. The young man had no strength to hold back any longer. He had to check her up and make sure if she was alright, even if it meant skipping his studies.

The servant and his master went upstairs and stopped by the door to Yukimura-san’s room. After several futile attempts to receive the answer to his knockings, the young heir of the Saitos turned the doorknob and opened the door only to see a terrible scene. He rushed to his guest’s side, who was lying on the floor lifelessly.

“Yukimura-san! Yukimura-san! Please, open your eyes!” he kept on crying lifting the girl by the shoulders and shaking her. He was scared that she was dead but after his hands touched her skin Saito sighed in relief. But…

“Yamazaki-san!” the young man called the butler, “She is burning!”

The brown-haired servant laid his palm on the girl’s hot forehead and nodded his head in concern.

“Yes, she has a fever. Perhaps it happened because Yukimura-san spent some time under the rain yesterday and didn’t change into dry clothes. But still,” the man said thoughtfully, “it’s not that cold outside to catch such severe fever”.

“She was upset with something yesterday. I am afraid that something bad could happen at the dinner,” Hajime answered worriedly, still holding the girl’s upper body in his embrace.

“You mean…violence?”

Saito’s heart tightened when he heard Yamazaki’s supposition. But he couldn’t say that he didn’t think about such possibility himself.

“Yes…” was all he could utter.

“Saito-sama, I know that you are worried about Yukimura-san’s wellbeing, but I have to ask you to leave the room. I have to examine her condition. I am sorry for my rudeness but I ask you not a as a butler but as your family doctor”.

The young heir exhaled roughly, he didn’t want to leave the poor girl alone but also he knew that Yamazaki was a profy in medicine since he graduated with honors from Medical Academy in Tokyo, he gave up his vocation though and decided to work for the Saitos, who helped his family once in the past.

“I understand. Please, inform me when you know the results,” with those words Hajime laid the girl’s burning body on the futon and stood up. “I will be in the cabinet,” he said quietly and exited the room.   

 Little did anyone know that he was on the edge of despair. He was blaming himself for what happened to Yukimura-san. His mind was showing him different pictures of possible opportunities of what could had happened the previous evening and all of them were terrible and made his hair stand on its ends. Hajime tried to calm himself down. He opened the door to his cabinet and closed it behind him, exhaling in distress. Somehow he realized that he couldn’t stand watching Yukimura-san’s suffering. He didn’t know when he got so attached to the girl but the result was as clear as water: Saito didn’t want to let her go and return to the capital. He needed to see her and take place in her life even if it meant to be her land-lord. The mere thought that another man could have taken advantage of that strong spirited girl made Hajime’s blood stand cold in his veins.    

 The young man covered his eyes with his slightly trembling hand. No, it couldn’t be true…she was a skilled profy after all and could defend herself in a moment of danger. And yet…she was also a fragile girl whose complexion could easily lose to someone bigger and firmer. He would never forgive himself if something terrible happened to Yukimura-san. At that very moment of unbearable soul torments someone knocked on the door and made the young master come back to reality. He couldn’t even notice that he had spaced out still leaning his back against the door.

“Who is it?” Hajime asked roughly. He didn’t want to sound that way though.

“It’s Yamazaki,” the answer was.

Saito stepped aside and opened the door, letting the butler come in.

“How is she?” Hajime couldn’t recognize himself. He had never used to say anything before thinking.

“Yukimura-san’s condition is stable, but she has a fever, perhaps it’s because she stayed under the rain, but from my point of view she could have had a shock that influenced her psychological state and as a result—influenced her wellbeing. She needs proper treatment right now.”

Hajime listened to Yamazaki’s every word but still he wasn’t satisfied with the report. He still needed to know if Yukimura-san was safe and _unharmed_.  As if reading his master’s thoughts, the medic added:

“I haven’t found any signs of violence on her body, but there is a nasty bruise on her right wrist. It seems that someone took it by force.”

“I see,” Saito answered, looking at one spot with his emotionless eyes.

“This is what I wanted to tell you. I told the maid to change Yukimura-san into dry clothes. Sorry for disturbing, Saito-sama,” Yamazaki bowed and left the cabinet, leaving his master alone. Such situations were rarity but now it was one of those moments when Hajime didn’t know what to do and how to act. He could rely on Yamazaki’s medical examinations. If the man said that Yukimura-san was untouched than it was true, and yet… who could grab her wrist so roughly that it caused a bruise on her skin? Somehow the young man couldn’t but think about the only person who could bring troubles to the girl.

**_Kazama Chikage…_ **

 Saito remembered perfectly his lustful gaze when the blond came to the mansion to take his future wife home. Those eyes were not human’s but animal’s and they were looking at Yukimura-san, insulting her while doing so. Hajime remembered the tension in her aura, when Kazama was devouring her with his mysterious eyes. She was afraid of him and still she agreed to have a dinner with Osen-san and her freaky fiancé. What a brave girl she was!

And he… Hajime felt really bad realizing that he was the only one who could prevent the occurred incident. He could and had to stop her from going there but he hadn’t done that. The only thing he could do now was begging for forgiveness for not managing to protect her. Even if he was no one to her, just her temporary host, he felt like he _needed_ to keep her safe. The young man still didn’t know why he had those strange emotions when it came to Yukimura-san’s concern, but right now he had no time to muse about it. He wanted to see his guest and make sure she was getting better. With those confident thoughts the young master of the house left the cabined and headed towards the girl’s room.

 

**_OooooO_ **

 

It had been 2 days now since they found her passed out on the floor of her room. Yukimura-san hadn’t gained her conscious yet. Yamazaki did everything that he could to stop the fever and after getting the girl on a drip, her body’s temperature reduced a little, but still it wasn’t normal and the Saitos’ family doctor couldn’t understand why it was still high.

Hajime took care of his special guest, actually he stayed by her side during the nights and days. Thankfully, Yukimura-san’s illness happened to be on week-end so he didn’t have to skip the studies, but even if it occurred on workdays he would have definitely stayed here by Yukimura-san’s side. She was much more important than anything else right now. Putting cool cloths on her still hot forehead was the smallest he could do to help the girl to recover. She looked so fragile and sad in her sleep that Saito wondered what dreams she was having.

It was getting late outdoors. The night started to fade away slowly only to be replaced with another sunny day. Hajime turned his head to look at the sleeping girl again. With a heavy sigh escaping his lips, the young man took the girl’s hand in his and gently caressed the bruised skin on her slender wrist with his thumb.

“I’ll protect you, Yukimura-san,” he barely whispered, laying the girl’s hand beside her. His face expressed sorrow and determination at the same time. Hajime closed his crystal-blue eyes for concentration, sitting on his knees with his hands at his lap. He wanted to know the true reason of the happened drama and also he needed to know why she was so afraid of him after that dinner, but all he could do now was waiting for Yukimura-san’s awakening.

 

**_OooooO_ **

 

Chizuru was wandering aimlessly at the battlefield that was covered with dead bodies of the members of glorious Shinsengumi. Her eyes got widened in terror as she recognized her friends in those killed people. A horrifying fear sneaked into her heart as she rushed forwards to find the only man she prayed to be still alive.

“Hajime-san!!” a heart-rending squall echoed in the air as she continued running, looking at every dead man’s face. “No, it can’t be true…” she kept telling herself. “He couldn’t die! No!” Chizuru’s eyes started to lose hot pearls of tears.

“Hajime-san! Where are you? Please, answer me!” she ran and ran and ran until her feet met an edge of a cliff. “Where are you, Hajime-san? Please, tell me that you are alright!” she cried in despair. “I don’t want to lose you! I am not ready for such outcome! I beg you, tell me where you are! I want to be with you!” but there was no answer to her prays. Dead silence enveloped her as she fell on her knees and cried her heart out. “Hajime-san, please don’t leave me alone. I need you so much… Why, oh why couldn’t I protect you? Wherever you are, please take me with you!” the young widow cried in the air and her words echoed in the sky.

She didn’t find him among the other Shinsengumi soldiers, she looked everywhere but she didn’t find her only one, no matter how hard she tried to. A cruel feeling of fatal despair was about to devour her heart and soul completely when she heard someone calling her name.

_“Chizuru…”_

She snapped out from her trance and lifted her head.

_“Chizuru…”_

There couldn’t be any mistake, it was her dear husband’s voice!

“Hajime-san! Where are you?” the girl exclaimed, standing on her feet and looking around.

_“I am right here beside you”._

“I can’t see you! Please, show me yourself!” she desperately begged.

_“I will always be with you. Wherever I am and whenever you need me, I will always be by your side. Believe me…”_

“Hajime-san, I don’t understand what you mean”.

 _“Chizuru…”_ the voice started to fade away.

“Hajime-san! No! Don’t leave!”

**_“I am here. Open your eyes!”_ **

 

**_OooooO_ **

 

Yukimura’s eyes flew open as she gasped for air greedily. She stared at the ceiling above her for some moments only to comprehend where she was. She could swear that just a minute ago she heard her husband’s voice. The girl laid her palm on her forehead and felt something wet on her face. She took it away and got surprised to see a white cloth in her hand.

 _“What happened?”_ she asked herself mentally, closing her eyes, willing to remember the past events of the previous day. But all she could bring back at that moment was a horrific nightmare where her dear husband was killed along with the rest of Shunsengumi members, and she couldn’t find his body at the battlefield. It felt so realistic that Chizuru had to make a lot of effort not to burst into bitter tears.

“ _It was just a bad dream_ ,” she tried to convince herself, getting up so she could sit in her futon. The moment she opened her eyes again, the girl noticed a young dark-haired man sitting beside her “bed”. He looked fast asleep with his head down and steady breathing.

Chizuru face lit up as she recognized her beloved husband in that man. So it was just a bad dream. Hajime-san was here safe and sound. A gentle smile crossed her face as she looked at him warmly. He couldn’t get rid of that habit of his to sleep in a sitting position, couldn’t he?

The next moment she felt as her heart tightened. Somehow she felt so lonely vulnerable right now. Her nightmares were making her losing her sanity. She was so afraid of losing him, that the fear started living in her dreams, showing the awful scenes she could barely stand. Chizuru couldn’t understand why, but right now she missed Hajime-san’s proximity, she longed to touch him, smell him, hold him and embrace him as if she hadn’t done it for ages. Her eyes softened as the pure and eternal love filled her heart and soul. The young woman crawled to his sleeping figure and bent her head down so she could find his lips with hers.

She kissed him gently and slowly, realizing how much it meant to her right now. She let out a small, almost soundless moan of bliss as her fingers ran down his cheek lightly. If only someone knew how right it felt to kiss the man you love with all your being! Chizuru didn’t even notice closing her eyes, melting in the longing kiss, but when she felt Hajime-san’s sharp inhale, she opened them to see if he woke up too.

 

**_The moment their eyes locked Yukimura found out that she had made a terrible mistake._ **

 

The man she was kissing right now wasn’t her dear husband. His surprised and totally inquiring gaze was the proof of it. Suddenly her forgotten memories showed up in her mind and brought her back to cruel reality.

The girl jumped away from the man she dared to kiss thinking that he was her beloved soul-mate. Even when she stared at him with widened and shocked eyes, he still didn’t move from his position and continued staring at her with the same unreadable expression on his face. Chizuru pressed her palm to her mouth, her eyes filled with tears and her lips started trembling in silent hysteria.

“Hajime-san…it can’t be!..” she said in desperate tone before jumping on her feet and rushing to the door.

So, it wasn’t a nightmare. Hajime-san and the others were dead for real and after she buried them something strange happened and she ended up in this weird world, where her husband, family and friends were alive but had other personalities. She wasn’t the same herself. In this world she didn’t have any powers as she used to have in the past. Now she was a common human she always wanted to be, but not under current circumstances. And just a moment ago she had confused her dear Hajime-san with Saito-senpai! She thought that she was kissing her love but she kissed her respected host instead. What a shame! How could she look at him after what happened just a moment ago? He would think that she was a perverted and ill-behaved woman! Why? Why didn’t she notice the substitution earlier? Was it because it didn’t feel wrong while she was kissing him? Maybe it was because it felt like it should be? It was true, when she was kissing Saito-senpai she was absolutely sure that it was her husband whom she kissed. It was his lips, his scent, his body heat…that was why she made such an unforgivable mistake! But now it didn’t mean anything… She had no right to stay at Saito-sanpai’s house any longer. He would despise her and she would never be able to look into his clear eyes again. She didn’t know where to go and what to do, she didn’t know how she could return to her world, the only thing she knew that everything was falsity and she had to run away from here as fast as she could.

Not paying attention at what she was wearing, Chizuru stormed out of the mansion and ran out of the main gate bare feet, still crying uncontrollably.

**_But she had no chance to fulfill her plan of escaping._ **

 When she reached the corner of the street, a white sport car blocked her way and two black jeeps parked behind her as if trapping her like a little mouse.

Yukimura didn’t know what was going on. She tried to change her direction but a smooth deep voice stopped her from doing so. A tall blond man got out of the sport car and approached a bewildered girl.

“Actually I didn’t expect to meet you in such a heartbroken state. Could it be that that parody of Saito made something that upset you so much, dear Chizuru?” as always, he spoke slowly and powerfully, but whatever he said didn’t have any meaning to her.

“Back off! I am in a hurry!” she said sternly.

“Or maybe,” Chikage ignored her little outburst and bent closer so that his lips were right next to her ear, “he didn’t satisfy you as a woman and you have finally realized that he is not you _dead_ husband?” when he emphasized the word “dead” Chizuru bit her lower lip in order to hold back her tears.

“You are mine, Chizuru. It’s you destiny,” the blond whispered meaningfully, making the girl feel doomed.

But she found some strength to push him aside roughly and announce in a cold tone:

“I don’t belong to anyone. I will be neither with you nor with him. Leave me alone, Kazama-san!”

Chikage listened to her demands patiently and when she was about to turn around and walk away, he grabbed her by the shoulder and hit her in the celiac plexus with his fist.

Chizuru let out a sharp cry of pain and fainted right in the already prepared arms of the man she feared so much…

**_…Kazama Chikage’s…_ **


	10. Their Reunion

** Chapter 10 **

**_Their reunion_ **

 

The realization of the occurred event didn't hurry to come. Saito had no clue what just happened. He woke up from his unplanned nap because he felt pleasant warmth and smooth touches to his lips. The sensation was indescribably nice. He had never felt anything like that before. And when he opened his eyes, he saw her. Yukimura-san was kissing him gently and slowly, but then she looked up at him and great terror could be noticed in her chocolate eyes. Something scared her so much that she unconsciously drew back in fear.

It was him who she scared her for the second time: at first it was in the corridor when she came back from the dinner, and now – right after she recovered from the severe fever she had.

It was easy to muse about the situation now, when she ran away from him as if he was a dangerous flame that could burn you to death. The moment she looked at him, Saito had no thoughts in his head. He was so surprised with her sudden kiss that he lost the inborn ability to think. The next events played like a movie before his eyes. The girl covered her mouth with her palm and said something calling him by his given name. It was another shock for him, like a man grown up in a traditional family, he wasn’t used to be addressed so informally.

And then she jumped on her feet and ran away, leaving him sitting alone in the room absolutely inapprehensive and bewildered.

He wanted to go after her, to ask why she did what she had done, but something was stopping him from those intentions. Saito was too absorbed in his own tangled emotions that he couldn’t think straight and breathe steady.

He had never kissed a woman and no women had ever dared to kiss him…until today. The girl from Tokyo had ruined his steady, regular life when she crossed a threshold of his house. Yukimura-san wasn’t just any other female he had known before. She was special, he realized it not long ago before the incident at the dinner or it would be right to say—the moment he saw her in the semi-dark corridor all wet and trembling from the cool rain. He tried to deny those strange feelings in his chest that appeared the very time he saw her, but that night his well-built façade of steadfastness cracked. The moment his true feelings showed themselves without his permission, Yukimura-san looked at him with those scared chocolate eyes of hers.

If only one could know how painful it felt to see that the person you admired so much was looking at you with horror in her eyes. During those two days of treating and taking care of her, those stabbing feelings of pain and despise to yourself smoothed a little, but today when she woke up and suddenly gave him an intimate kiss, when he opened his eyes from the finest sensation he had ever felt in his whole life and when he realized that the very sensation was given to him by Yukimura-san, a light of hope lit up in his heart. It was a spark that ran within him with a sonic speed. Maybe he wouldn’t even have noticed it if the girl didn’t look in his eyes. He didn’t know why she reacted like that, but the result was the same as several days ago.

**_He saw fear mixed with regret in her eyes._ **

But if she was so afraid of him, why did she kiss him in the first place? After seeing her fearful eyes Hajime realized that maybe he wasn’t the person she wanted to kiss and caress. But on the other side…he heard her saying his name…

What was going in?

At the very moment of his hard musings, a cell-phone in his pocket rang and interrupted his train of thoughts. The young master of the house reached his hand to pick up the phone. Unexpectedly it was Yamazaki calling.

“Saito-sama, Yukimura-san has been kidnapped,” the butler said sternly in a whisper.

“What?!” Hajime cried out jumping on his feet, not believing his ears.

“I’m watching them right now. He took Yukimura-san inside a mansion. The territory is surrounded by security. I think, it’s better to wait for the nightfall.”

Hajime listened to the servant’s every word, his conjectures were scaring him, but he had to know the truth. And he asked:

“Who did it?”

The answer was the one he swore he prayed not to hear.

“It’s Kazama”.

 

**XxxxxX**

 

When Yamazaki noticed a retreating figure of his master’s guest, he felt alarmed. During all his life he relied on his 6th sense and this time wasn’t an exception. The brown-haired butler canceled his duty of instructing the maidservant personnel and followed the crying girl. She ran fast and the very moment he wanted to call out her name, several black cars stopped on every side of her figure. Yamazaki was about to rush and rescue the girl, but stopped on his tracks when a white sport car blocked Yukimura-san’s way. The moment the ruby-eyed blond showed himself before her, Yamazaki hid behind a nearest tree, deciding to observe attentively. He couldn’t help the girl right now but he could spy on the kidnappers, and spying was another sphere he was a master at.

When Kazama knocked out Yukimura-san and took her in his car, the bold butler decided to act. He secretly sneaked to one of the black jeeps and hid himself under it. It was risky and dangerous, but it was the only way to stay unnoticed and not to let them get away.

Yukimura-san was in trouble!

 

**XxxxxX**

 

Hajime didn’t waste time. After receiving a phone call, he sensed his spirit glowing with determination. If he didn’t know why he felt so unsteady about Yukimura-san before, it was as clear as water now. He developed deep feelings for her. The young man hated himself for letting such terrible things happen to her in order to realize his affection, but it wasn’t time for self-torture. He had to save the lady of his heart no matter what, the mere thought of Kazama taking advantage of her made his blood boil his veins. It wasn’t good. As a warrior, he had no right to feel any of those wavering emotions people called anger, jealousy and fury. He had to cool down for her, because he was her only hope, because he would not let anyone lay a finger on her, because she needed a guardian who would take care of her, because he burnt with determination to become the one for her…

**_…because he loved her._ **

It was an uneasy realization, especially when it came so spontaneously in his mind, but now it didn’t feel wrong to think about it. During the time Yukimura-san had spent in his house, he didn’t dare to think of her as a girl you could start close relations with. He ordered his mind and body to see Yukimura-san as a respectful guest and an interesting person to talk to, but nothing more than that. But those self-instructions started to fail when Kazama appeared in her life. In their life.

Hajime felt negative towards the blond man from the first sight. And at that moment he caught himself thinking that Yukimura-san needed protection. Was it jealousy back then? Hajime didn’t know for sure but as a result, those cautions were right, but he wasn’t too aware of them and didn’t listen to his heart when it was screaming to be around the girl and help her if anything wasn’t right.

**_And it occurred._ **

Saito gritted his teeth but relaxed and exhaled. It wasn’t the time to feel aggravation. He needed to prepare for tonight’s battle.

**_He had to fight for his love!_ **

With those resolute thoughts, the young master of the house walked out of his room, wearing a long black leather cloak. He needed to borrow the strength of his ancestors—a family relic, the famous sword of the Saito dynasty.

 

**XxxxxX**

 

When she woke up everything was blurry before her eyes. The surroundings were unfamiliar and she didn’t remember how she ended up here.

Chizuru brought back the memories of kissing Saito-senpai, the way her body reacted to that forbidden kiss, her escape and her encounter with Kazama.  The last remembrance forced her to sit up sharply in the bed she was lying on.

“I see you have finally regained consciousness,” a deep masculine voice sounded in the semi-darkness.

“Where am I?” she exclaimed, her voice filled with the notes of anger.

“Let’s say that you are my guest, dear Chizuru. But soon you’ll become a mistress of this mansion,” a power and confidence could be heard in his voice.

“What do you mean?” the girl asked and her gaze fell on her clothes. To her great terror she found herself dressed in a wedding kimono. How did she get in it? And more importantly, who dressed her in it?

“You are musing about the outfit. It’s me who had dressed you for the upcoming ceremony”.

She was at a loss of words, but soon found her voice again.

“How dare you! Show yourself!” she commanded. Those jokes were too much for her wavering and unsteady nervous system.  She wasn’t afraid of Kazama. She had nothing to lose now but it didn’t mean she had to put up with her destiny. And who said that being with him was her destiny in the first place?

In the semi-darkness she couldn’t see his figure clearly. Only when he stepped in the moonlight that shone through the window, she managed to find his face and maniacal ruby eyes, those were looking at her with desire and inner power.

That gaze was burning. Chizuru didn’t like how it felt on her skin. And no matter how bravely she tried to deny it, his gaze was scaring her.

He was dressed in a wedding kimono too and there was a clay bottle in his left hand.

“What are you up to? Why did you kidnap me?” Chizuru inquired, drawing back instinctively till her back hit the hard wall.

The man took a step forward. He was devouring her with his wine-coloured eyes and Chizuru felt it with every cell of her body.

“I am making you my wife at first and then, after I take off that kimono from you, I’ll show you the reason why I kidnapped you and tied my life with you. I need pure-blooded heirs, Chizuru, and you are the only one who can give birth to them”.

The said girl gritted her teeth and hugged herself protectively, sending the man a glare full of disgust.

“I will never betray the memory of my husband. Better think about Osen-san. She loves you!”

“The Osen from this world loves not me but the man who existed before I appeared here. I have no interest in her,” he answered nonchalantly, reaching out his hand and offering it to her. “Now, come here. I have no intentions to use force on you on the day of our wedding”.

“I said no!” she cried in despair. “Besides, we are both humans, Kazama-san. You will win nothing by taking me!”

“Hm, I think that we should check it out first. Nevertheless, I don’t lose hope of finding a way to go back to our world”.

With those words he sat on the bed and reached out to grab her arm, but she jerked away and jumped down from the bed. Chizuru rushed towards the opposite wall, all alerted and ready to defend herself.

The blond’s eyebrow arched above a garnet eye.

“I suppose, you are not going to share a drink of the ceremonial sake with me on your free will, are you?” 

“I better die!” Chizuru barked back.

“Don’t say such words, dear. I won’t let it happen anyway.”

“You are a disgustful beast!”

“There was not a single woman whom I didn’t satisfy. It’s a question of time, Chizuru. You will learn to love me some day,” Kazama’s voice sounded confident as he stood up and started approaching his prey.

“It will never happen. The only man I love and will always do is Hajime-san!” she said defensively, watching his every move. He wasn’t as fast as he used to be in their world, but he still was dangerous and sly, she better pay attention.

“Then I will make you forget about Saito. He comes in no comparison with me, Chizuru. Besides, he is dead and the Saito from this world is not your husband. He doesn’t have any feelings for you, dear. It could be clearly seen in his eyes,” and a mocking laughter escaped his thought.

“Stop it!” she answered aggressively.

“Stop what? Is the truth too painful to bear? I know you, Chizuru. I know you better than anyone. I am the only one who can understand you. You lost everything in this life but from now on, I will take care of you. So, drink it,” Kazama poured some sake in a miniature bowl and outstretched his hand, offering the drink to the girl.

But she had another point of view. Chizuru’s eyes glowed with despise and anger. She brushed away his hand roughly, forcing the cup to slip out of his fingers and fall on a floor with a splash sound.

Kazama’s eyes darkened dangerously to her bold action.  He shot her a hazardous glare and hissed through gritted teeth:

“If you don’t do it yourself, I will make you drink it and there will be no escape for you this time, my dear,” after saying those threats he took a mouthful of ceremonial sake from the bottle and moved towards the girl. If he had his powers now, there would have been no problems to teleport behind her and grab the disobedient girl, but he was a human now and all he could do was relying on his reflexes.

But Chizuru was faster. She managed to slip out of his reach just in time. Her brain was working hard on any possible way of escaping. She had to fight the man, she knew that for sure, since the door was out of her reach and she had no doubts that the room was surrounded by security. All she could try to do was knocking out the blond of his senses. But she had no weapon and he was much stronger physically. No matter how you looked at it, Chizuru knew she was going to lose. But even if it was obvious, Yukimura would never give up so easily.

 

**XxxxxX**

 

Meanwhile Yamazaki was standing on a high tree and had a perfect view of Kazama’s mansion from above. The shadow of the tree crown hid the man’s face. He had no opportunity to leave his hiding place and go to change into more appropriate outfit of black colour, but despite all of that, his being and posture showed that he was a professional spy or even ninja.  

Yamazaki was analyzing the best way of a secret intruding in order to save his master’s guest. And as the last thought crossed his mind, Susumu-san felt a light vibration in the pocket of his butler’s uniform. The man picked up his cell phone to answer.

“It’s time,” said the voice in the receiver. “Follow the plan. Draw the securities’ attention away from the east wing. I am counting on you, Yamazaki”.

“Good luck, Saito-sama. Please, save Yukimura-san”.

“I will”.

Both man hang up at the same time and took a deep breath. The next second Saito witnessed as his subordinate jumped on the other tree and threw a little stone at a head of one of security men, which caused a true commotion on the ground.

Saito waited patiently for the right moment to come. Yamazaki did great job by clearing the security away and taking them to the other side of the mansion. Now, when the entrance was clear, Saito rushed to a high fence and jumped over it gracefully, letting his black leather cloak flutter in the night. He had the main goal in his mind to save Yukimura-san and nothing could stop him now. When he entered the mansion, several men tried to block his way, but he deal shortly with them and all the others who tried to put obstacles in the way. Saito didn’t kill those men, since he never unsheathed his katana, but his attacks were strong enough to knock the enemies out of their consciousness. The hardest part was ahead—to find the room where Kazama locked up Yukimura-san.

Saito prayed for her safety.    

 

**XxxxxX**

 

She could predict any other situation, but she wasn’t prepared for such outcome. Kazama was sly. He loved to play with human reflexes and today wasn’t an exception. The man pretended throwing something at the girl and she subconsciously tried to dodge it but the vigilance had been lost for a second – a time that was enough for an enemy to make a move. Kazama took advantage of the moment. He grew before Chizuru in a blink of an eye like some sort of mirage and grabbed her roughly by the chin. His other hand pressed the girl’s body to his own so hard, that Chizuru started to lose oxygen.

The blond was serious. His eyes were proving that any kind of jokes had stopped right there. His ruby eyes were glowing with intimidation, and for the first time in her life Chizuru felt really scared of this man, so scared that she couldn’t think straight. A fear for this man blocked all her well-trained senses of self-defense.  

“ _This is the end_!” she cried in her mind when Kazama bent his face to hers. She felt his hot breath on her mouth, which she kept shut all this time. He wanted to pour the ceremonial sake in her mouth through a forceful kiss. And it was unavoidably coming…

Chizuru screwed up her eyes in despair. No matter how hard she tried to escape his rough embrace, it was pointless. He was too strong and he had no intention of letting her go.

“ _I don’t want it to happen_!” was her mental sob of hopelessness. She _had_ to push the unwanted man away from her!

The moment she felt his mouth on hers, Chizuru froze for a second but then she gripped all her willpower and instinctively bit Kazama’s lower lip with all the strength her teeth and position could let her.

He didn’t expect such turn of events. Pain shot through his mind and forced him to break the lip contact with the girl. He let go of her and spilled the liquid out or else he could choke with it. Before he could wipe blood away from his lip and send an incinerating glare at the naughty girl, he suddenly felt a wave of unbearable pain between his legs. It was so strong and agonizing that it forced him to fall on his knees before Yukimura and groan.   

After some seconds of aching the blond growled furiously and looked up at the girl with the eyes filled with raving madness. But instead of fear he met a challenge in her mirrors of soul. He knew that look. All of former Shinsengumi members he fought in the past had that desperate look in their eyes when they were up to something careless and crazy. And as a proof to his musings, Chizuru took a step forward and then she bent down to pick up a shard of a broken bottle on the floor. She never broke an eye contact with the man while doing so. Then she stood up and pressed the sharp end of the bottle fragment to her throat. Those actions were dangerous for life, but still they were smooth and beautiful in her performing. It was a slow dance of death played by her.

“You won’t do that,” he uttered finally, slowly standing up on his feet.

She watched him calmly yet very vigilantly.

“I will, if you don’t let me go. I have nothing to lose, but I will never be with you and betray the memory of my husband. I’d rather prefer death to sharing one bed with you!” her voice was low and it sounded like it wasn’t her who was speaking.

“I will not let you kill yourself, Chizuru,” with those words he started approaching her slowly, smoothly.

She gripped the shard tighter.

“Don’t come any closer!”

But he didn’t listen to her warnings and continued his dirty intentions.

Chizuru understood that it was the only way to escape the prison of being with Kazama, and when he refused to give her freedom back, the last hope blew out and she decided to put everything to an end. The girl tried to recall the memory of her dear Hajime-san, so that it wouldn’t be so frightening to die, and with an image of him in her mind, Chizuru made a sharp inhale and stabbed the sharp end of her weapon deep in her throat.   

 

**XxxxxX**

 

The moment he opened the door to some room, the first person he noticed was Yukimura-san, who tried to kill herself with some object in her hands. There was no time to think of any other possibilities to prevent the tragedy. Saito, ruled by his subconsciousness, grabbed the first thing he found in his pocket and threw it at the girl’s hands forcefully. That object turned out to be his cell-phone, but he didn’t care. The moment he was sure that Yukimura-san was out of danger, Hajime rushed to her side and stood in front of her in a protective pose, with his face turned to the man who dared to kidnap his guest.  

 

**XxxxxX**

 

She felt pain, an unbearable pain in her hand that held a weapon of self-defense just a second ago, before it slipped out from her fingers and crashed on the floor. Chizuru didn’t get what just happened, but her hand was aching so much that her vision got blurry. But even in that state she managed to see a man in a black cloak, who shielded her from Kazama with his body.

“My-my, look who decided to come to our wedding ceremony, dear”. Chizuru heard deriding voice that belonged only to one person in this room.  “Maybe I have to say thank you for saving my bride’s life by throwing that cell-phone of yours. She is so tempered and ambitious sometimes”.

“You let her go. Now!” said her savior in a low, warning tone. When she heard his voice, Chizuru recognized its owner right away. She sensed that it was him from the very beginning, but she just couldn’t believe that he came for her after what she had done in the morning.

“Saito-senpai?” was her bare whisper.

But Kazama wasn’t a sentimental type of a man. He preferred deeds to words.

“If you want to take her from here, then fight me, Saito,” a scoffing smirk found its place on the blond man’s face, as he grabbed his katana from the table.

Saito’s eyes narrowed with seriousness. He wielded his katana and took a stance, holding his weapon above his head.

Chikage took his stance as well, pointing his katana at the enemy with one hand.

“If to be honest, I don’t want to kill you, but you’re always in the way!” the blond said coldly ready to attack.

“Yukimura-san. Please, stay back,” Saito whispered, never leaving his eyes from his opponent.

The battle began in an instant. The sound of two crossed blades rang in the room. Both men were professionals in the art of fencing. Their attacks were quick, sharp and merciless. Chizuru watched the battle in alarm. It was too painful to see how the man, who looked exactly like her husband, fought Kazama. Again. She remembered how one of such struggles ended. Kazama had almost killed him, tracking dirt on his severe wounds with his feet. That time the blond damaged not only Saito’s body, but also his soul, his spirit. Chizuru wasn’t ready to live through a similar situation again. Saito-senpai wasn’t her Hajime-san, but he still was too precious to her and she refused to lose him.

The moment the last thoughts crossed her mind, Kazama send a forceful attack, that Saito merely made it in time to block. The impact was so strong that it broke the family relic in two pieces. Azure eyes widened in terror, witnessing the blade of his katana falling on a hard floor, leaving only a handle gripped in his hands. Everything happened too fast, but the scene played in a slow motion before his eyes.

Meanwhile Chikage was furious. That brat, that parody of Saito made him sweat. But it was nothing comparing to the fact he had learned during their fight. Saito’s eyes… they had changed from the day Kazama saw him in the Saito’s mansion for the first time. Now they were filled with determination to protect someone he cared for. That greenhorn had feelings for his, Chikage’s, woman! He knew that gaze too well. The former Saito of Shinsengumi always had that glow in his eyes, when it concerned Chizuru. And he was unbeatable in his Chizuru-mode. Love made people weak. Chikage had always thought that way until he met this man, whose crystal blue eyes could freeze you to death in the name of love. There were no doubts that this sucker was in love with Chizuru. And no matter how shameful it was to admit, Kazama had to acknowledge the possibility of his defeat. But maybe Lady luck was on his side today, ne? Who could predict such a poor outcome? Looking at a weaponless Saito, Chikage couldn’t hide a malicious grin. Love didn’t help this lad after all.  And now Chizuru would be his. There was only one thing left…

**_…to kill the irksome hindrance!…_ **

And without wasting any precious seconds Chikage flourished his katana at the other man to put everything to an end. One blow **-** and a sharp blade would slash that parvenu’s body!

But everything happened too fast to react. There he saw the emotionless face of his opponent that was about to meet his death, and now there was his dear Chizuru that dashed to shield Saito’s body with hers. It was too late to stop the attack. Chikage’s eyes widened in terror, preparing to witness how his destined woman would die from his own hands.

The same feelings were running through the raven-haired man’s head. His body got numb due to shock. He wanted to cry out her name, but his voice didn’t obey. He felt helpless knowing that he couldn’t save the woman he loved from harm. The realization that she would die protecting him was tearing his heart apart.

Both men were lost in their dreadful thoughts, when Chizuru caught the dangerous blade between her palms. Her stern voice, that sounded so cold and distant, interrupted the suffocating silence.

“You will not take him away. I will not let you kill this Saito Hajime. Never!”

Her eyes were bottomless because of a whirlpool of emotions she felt right now. Her gaze could paralyze you with yearning to protect the person she loved and could give her life away for.

The grip on the handle got weaker. Chikage let go of his katana and stepped back. There was too much stress for today. He could have just killed the woman he wanted in his life. His thoughts were tangling in his mind and it was hard to breathe due to rapid heart beating.

**_She was alive. And that was what mattered right now._ **

Saito felt terrible, he felt weak and ashamed of himself for not defending himself and protecting Chizuru. When he heard her words, they brought him back to reality. He was about to tell something, feeling that his voice was back again, but suddenly he noticed as the girl’s body became flabby and she started to fall. In a second he caught her in his arms, thanking Heavens that his reflexes were back again.

“Yukimura-san!” he cried in despair, falling on his knees while hugging the most precious woman in his life. But his words didn’t catch her attention. She lay limp in his arms, like a vulnerable child. “Yukimura-san! Please, answer me!”

Chikage watched the scene silently. The stressful situation he had faced just some seconds ago cooled his short temper. There were two persons before his eyes: a man, who held his unconscious beloved in a tight embrace, praying for her safety, and a woman, who was ready to sacrifice her life in order to save the man she loved the most in the whole universe. Somehow, that entire situation had a déjà vu effect on Kazama. He witnessed the same scene countless times in the past, but during all those events the role of a weeper belonged to the very girl that he could have accidently killed just a minute ago. She was always by Saito’s side, no matter how sever his wounds were, he had always stayed alive. It was incomprehensible to Chikage how a mere human like Saito could heal after being nearly killed. But now Kazama solved the riddle. Looking at the couple, he assumed that anyone would gain the lost wish to live on, to break the chains of death if someone cried over you and begged you to come back to them. It was just like the young Saito was doing now. It was like Chizuru had always done for her husband on the battlefield.

**_Love. The meaning of the feeling was still beyond his understanding._ **

There was no need to convince yourself that you had won. Even if it was the right chance to finally kill the fraud and take the girl, Kazama didn’t want it anymore. After what happened that night, he lost any intentions to override Chizuru. She was too valued to lose.  

**_And he didn’t want it that way in the first place._ **

“Take care of her”.

Saito placed the gaze of his azure eyes on the man, whose voice interrupted his rapid murmurings. The blond looked at him emotionlessly and then shifted his gaze on the girl’s face.

“You don’t deserve her, mere weakling…”

Hajime was about to say something but suddenly he noticed as the air behind Kazama started to wave mysteriously and a transparent image of a high cliff appeared there. 

“…but neither do I… ” uttered the blond in a steady voice before turning his back to surprised Saito and starting to walk towards the strange portal. 

“Wait!” Kazama heard the other man’s voice behind him. He stopped and glanced back at his rival in the affairs of the heart, who looked more confident and précised than before. “I don’t know where you are going, but if you ever try to harm Yukimura-san again, I swear to eliminate you.”

Chikage’s lips curled in a scornful smirk.

“You don’t realize who you are threatening, brat”.

Without any other words, he stepped into a portal, and all Hajime could see was a retreating figure of a man who was walking on the edge of a cliff with katana in his hand. The vision started to wave and blurry until it vanished the same mysterious way it appeared not long ago in the room.

It was a good time to get surprised and ask questions, but Hajime was too busy thinking of a way to escape. He had to make it out of this mansion before the guard found him here but it was hard to stay unnoticed with Yukimura-san in his hands. He wouldn’t be able to protect her nor defend himself that way. His train of thoughts was interrupted by a man who suddenly appeared in the doorway.

“Saito-sama, I advise to get out of here before the drug loses its effect”.

There was no need to ask how Yamazaki found them and what drug he was talking about because Hajime knew that his butler was a reliable person and he didn’t waste words for nothing. Later that night Saito admitted that he wouldn’t have accomplished the rescue mission without Yamazaki’s help.

They reached the Saitos’ mansion in safety. The trusted butler didn’t say anything when his master took his still unconscious guest to his private room. Yamazaki knew that Saito-sama would never harm Yukimura-san, he was too well behaved for that. And also he understood that his master needed some time to put everything together in his mind.

“If I am needed, just call me,” was everything Hajime heard from his subordinate before the door to his room was closed.

The young man walked to his bed and laid the girl’s almost weightless body on it. There were too many questions and too many suppositions that needed to be answered. But now it didn’t matter. Today Hajime found out that loosing someone you cared for was unbelievably terrifying. It scared you to paralyzation  in your limbs and you couldn’t do anything to help the person you wanted to save. The feeling of hopelessness wounded you from inside. And seeing her struggle for your life made you feel ashamed because it was you who had to protect her from anything and anyone.

Saito sat on the edge of the bed and caressed Chizuru’s cheek carefully. Kazama was right. He didn’t deserve to care for her, to love her. She was worthy of someone better than him, someone who wouldn’t lose control of his own body while rescuing her. Hajime smiled bitterly, bringing back the memories of today’s night. He was pathetic back there. And she was a true heroine. If it wasn’t for her, he wouldn’t even have ended up alive and admire her sleeping face right now. With a sad sigh the young man lay beside Yukimura-san and took her fragile hand in his. Was it even appropriate to act so unreservedly? It ran counter to his traditional behavior. But it didn’t matter to him anymore. Right now he had to feel her beside him and make sure that she was safe and unharmed. With one last glance at her sleeping face, Hajime sighed and closed his eyes, while squeezing her hand gently in his.

 

**XxxxxX**

 

She noticed his figure from afar. He was standing on a cliff with his head down. Something was telling her that he needed to talk to someone. Maybe it was just female intuition, but when she came closer to the man, she was glad to get the proof of her supposition.     

“Why are you so miserable? I thought that you were busy with developing your plan to conquer Chizuru-chan’s heart, you low creature. She hasn’t recovered from losing her husband yet! ” the girl said in an aggressive tone, but after hearing his calm yet quiet answer, she froze to the spot.  

“Chizuru is gone”.

What did he say? She was gone? Dead? No! It couldn’t be true!

“H-how… but… when did it happen?!” she cried in despair refusing to believe his words.

The blond man turned his head to look at the girl. There were tears in her light-pink eyes and she struggled to hold them back. Princesses had no right to show their true emotions, but Osen wasn’t a regular princess. She was Chizuru’s friend.

Acting by the instinct, Chikage took out a piece of fabric, which he unexpectedly brought with him from the other world, and offered it to the crying girl.

Osen gazed at the man uncertainly, not understanding what he was trying to do.

“It’s called handkerchief. Wipe your tears with it. I don’t think she would be glad knowing that you are grieving because of her,” with those words Kazama turned in opposite direction and started to walk away, leaving the bewildered princess behind.

Osen glanced at the soft piece of fabric in her hands. There was an embroidered writing on the right upper corner.

_“For my dear Chikage-san”_

She didn’t know what to think, but somehow her heart warmed by looking at that beautiful writing. Princess shifted her gaze from the “handkerchief” to the retreating figure of the heartless man, as she had always thought of him. But right now she had a strong wish to follow him and make sure that he would be alright without his unrequited love. After all Chizuru had never been destined to be with him. And he needed time to believe it and accept the fact.

Unwittingly, Osen made several steps towards the leaving blond. She didn’t know why but at the very moment it felt right to share some time with him and offer him her support.

And to his own surprise, he didn’t mind her company either.

 

**XxxxxX**

 

Chizuru woke up by the sound of chirping behind the window. The sun was shining brightly through the curtains but the girl needed some time to notice that it wasn’t her room. When the realization hit her, the Chizuru’s eyes widened in terror. The nightmare she was having during the night wasn’t a nightmare but reality! She was in Kazama’s room and the worst suppositions were coming true!

Yukimura turned her head to the left only to get another shock. There was Saito-senpai sleeping beside her, his forehead covering half of his face in an attractive manner. Chizuru’s hand itched to brush those unruly strands away from his face, but somehow she found it difficult to lift her hand to do so. When she looked down to see what the reason of her motionless was, her heart skipped a beat when she noticed Saito-senpai’s hand holding hers, intertwining their fingers. The feeling for this young man found their way out of the prison she had made of her heart. The chocolate eyes warmed as Chizuru looked up at his face again. He saved her. He did it just like Hajime-san had always done. He came for her despite the fact that he didn’t love her, nor he knew who she really was. It would be selfish to think that he shared the same feelings she had for him. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure that her attraction belonged to this young man and not to her deceased husband. After all, she was a stranger to this world and she had no right to be here right now. And yet… feeling your beloved’s warm hand on yours was the highest reward for the woman who was in love. Yes, she was in love with the man who looked exactly like her first love. It was a cruel joke of fate.

The girl closed her eyes and smiled bitterly. She didn’t know where she belonged anymore, neither was she sure about the current situation. The little voice of her subconsciousness was telling her to leave and not turn back, while the other one whispered the words she was afraid to believe in:

**_“Stay”_ **

Yet Yukimura knew that there were too many “buts” behind the last phrase. The wisest decision would be to leave, leave everything and everyone behind.

**_To leave him behind._ **

No matter how hard it was to fulfill, she had to do it. It would be the best for him…for her.

With a strong wish to get her plan implemented, the girl breathed in and prayed for success. She opened her chocolate eyes and…

…saw her own reflection in the depths of azure mirrors of soul that belonged to the only one person in the whole universe.      

“I will not let you go anymore. Not now. Not ever.”

If only he knew what meaning  his words held. Chizuru didn’t know what to say, what to object. It was like he read her thoughts and decided to suppress any of her attempts to burn the bridges.

“But I am not the person you think I am,” at last she find some strength to answer, though it turnd out to be a weak whisper.

He didn’t look upset. More than that, he took their locked hands and brought them to his chest, right between their bodies.

“Then tell me who you are, Yukimura Chizuru”.

Saito-senpai was persistent in his demands, yet caring in his eyes. She couldn’t fight herself not to look in his mirrors of soul. As it was in the past, they gave her strength and confidence and made her feel secure.

“I don’t know it myself anymore. All I know is that I appeared in this world after burying my killed husband.” She made a pause to choke down the upcoming tears in order to continue. “He looked exactly like you, Saito-senpai, and had the same name…”

Silence fell upon them. Chizuru bit her lower lip refusing to avert her gaze from his eyes. No matter how hard it was for her to utter each word, but she felt support by looking in his eyes. It gave her courage to move on.

“When I first met you, I didn’t remember my past. It happened the day I attended the dinner where Kazama told me everything. He came from the world where I am from. I don’t know how it happened, but we ended up here without any memories of our former lives. And after recalling everything that occurred in the past, I found out that the grieving over my husband brought me to this modern world”.

Saito listened to her every word carefully, squeezing her hand in his for encouragement. He didn’t know what to say, how to help her, but somehow he understood that she needed to have her say everything. After all, he desired to know the truth too in order to understand the entire situation.  

Meanwhile Chizuru sniffed a little and brought her free hand to his face only to brush some dark strands of his silky hair away from his eyes. Her touches were so gentle and caring; they made the young man hold his breath in pleasure and unexpectedness.

She continued, not stopping to caress his hair.

“Living in a world without you is something sad and unbearable. I didn’t know that my feelings would bring me to you. What am I saying? You’re not the person I love the most. You’re a perfect copy of him but not him. I wonder what I would have done if you were really him. Sometimes my own vision of things tangles my thoughts. Is it really my destiny to love Saito Hajime no matter what, even if he exists in two persons? I don’t know what should I do! “

The girl took her hand away from his face and covered her eyes with her palm in frustration and depression.

“Your appearance, behavior, the way you hold yourself…your voice – everything reminds me of my dear Hajime-san. I can’t understand only one thing. I know for sure that I have already fallen in love with you, but is it really you who I have those feelings for? Or maybe it’s my vision of Hajime-san in you-”

“Chizuru…” his voice was serious yet caring. He took her hand away from her face and made the girl look at him in the eyes, the same blue eyes Saito once had. “Maybe I’m not him and I don’t understand the entire situation, but somehow I started to feel some indescribable feelings for you. I think this is what people call affection. The only thing I know for sure is that these feelings are mine, not his. They developed slowly, much slower than they had to, and it’s my fault. I sensed something towards you from the day we met for the first time at my house. Back then I didn’t know you. But when Kazama appeared in your life, I don’t know what got into me. I couldn’t stand seeing him seducing you and my worries didn’t fail me. I am so glad that I listened not to my consciousness, but my heart. Today I realized one thing: if I lose you I will not be able to live on. Please, don’t cry”.

The next moment she was enveloped tightly in his secure embrace. It shocked her so much but his warmth felt so right to her. She felt the same way in Saito-san’s arms when he was still alive. This guy…he was a little younger than her dear husband but he behaved exactly the same way.

“Saito-senpai,” a tear rolled down her cheek as she whispered his name.

**_They even had the same names…_ **

Suddenly his hug tightened.

“Don’t address to me like that. Tell me, how you called your beloved?” his voice sounded gentle but the tone was serious and firm.

“I used to call him Saito-san at first but after the wedding he became Hajime-san to me”.

“Then call me Hajime. Let it be only between us. I will be your Hajime from now on and you will be my dear Chizuru. I will never give you to anyone. I promise to stand beside you, Chizuru”.

Her unexpected sobs interrupted his meaningful monologue. The young man averted himself from her and looked at the crying beauty in his arm.

“Why are you crying?” he asked softly. “Please, don’t be”.

“You have just said the same words Hajime-san had told me at our first day of marriage. I have just remembered it. But he didn’t keep his promise. I am so scared to be left alone again. Where is the proof that we will be happy, that you won’t disappear, that no one will do us apart? And how can I stay here in this world, when I don’t belong here! I’m like a mere shadow-”

She was about to continue her whines but a sudden warmth landed on her lips. The girl’s eyes widened in surprise but then she closed them in a total bliss. Hajime was kissing her slowly and innocently. It reminded her of Saito-san’s kisses – so cherished, sensual and eternally shy. She didn’t notice as her arms found their perfect place around her formal land-lord’s hard shoulders. His kiss was magical, it casted all her fears and uncertainties away. There was only him right now and he would take care of her.  She believed that he would keep his promise. His lips were the proof, other things didn’t matter for now.

The man broke their lips contact carefully, though he wished this kiss could never end.

“Chizuru, I don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but until this heart is beating,” he placed her small hand on his firm chest “I will take all the responsibility of my words. And to prove my point, I am asking you to become my other half. If there are no you, there is no me”.

After declaring it, he found her bewildered face with his azure eyes, in which she could clearly see the rainbow of glittering emotions. Chizuru gasped, covering her mouth with her free hand.   

It happened so suddenly. Yesterday they were strangers to each other, or so she thought. But today he saved her, confessed his true love to her and proposed.

And she… she had no strength and courage to say no to him. He was her love, her dear irreplaceable friend and a beloved man. Even if he was a copy of her husband, he was still another person. They were very much alike, but something was still utterly different.  She didn’t complain at all. She loved Hajime Saito of Shinsengumi and Hajime Saito from this modern world the same way. She had discovered that today. No matter who this Hajime Saito was, she would always love him with a tender and never dying love, because he offered her the same. The memory of her husband would always live in her heart. But now she was ready to trust his voice that told her they would be together again. It was back in Shinsengumi times, and now she was here, in a parallel world, lying close to Hajime. This was what Saito-san meant, she thought, and lifted her head to look in those beautiful cerulean eyes that she adored so much.

“My answer is “yes”, Hajime”.

Hearing her calling his name in that gentle tone made him breathless. He took her by surprise by sitting up and lifting her fragile body, placing it at his lap. There was an admiring smile on his young face, a smile that showed eternal love and gratitude.

“Arigato,” he said while caressing her rosy cheek. They looked in each other’s eyes and couldn’t get enough of that mute conversation between their souls.

But now both of them felt completed. It was a wonderful feeling and they both cherished every moment of it.

Life was beautiful when you had your special person by your side.

Chizuru found him twice, the same man who conquered her heart. No matter where she was and when she existed, Hajime Saito was always her destined love that she was happy to share her life with.

Owari

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Oooookay. This is the end of the chapter but not the end of the story ^^’ Yeah, you heard right, guys. We know that it took us long enough to write this final chapter, but we promise to update the Epilogue in the near future. And you know why? Because we really want you to know the hidden sense behind this story.   
> Aside from that, we are really very excited to know about your impressions. Was this chapter worth of waiting? Did you like it? How was the end? Please, leave your reviews. If only you knew how they help and stimulate us to write the continuation. If not for your reviews, guys, this chapter would have still been under construction. We depend on your feedbacks =)  
> Thank you for reading and staying loyal to our story. We appreciate it very much.   
> Take care, guys, and have a nice day!  
> With gratitude,  
> Kit2000 and Anna


	11. The Epilogue

** Chapter 1 ** ** 1 **

**_The Epilogue_ **

 

 

Stirring in her sleep the young woman opened her eyes slowly. The remembrances of recent events were still fresh in her mind, yet they seemed distant and somewhat unreal.

The gaze of her chocolate eyes lay on a handsome face beside her. The man’s forehear fell on his closed eyes in a cute manner and his lips were parted slightly as he breathed in his sleep. Chizuru couldn’t fight the temptation and stroked his hair lovingly, brushing it away from his young face. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. The woman’s gaze caught a glimpse of something shiny on her hand. She looked closely at the object and recognized a wedding ring Hajime had put on her finger, declaring his love and loyalty by the altar several months ago back in Japan. Now they were in their own apartment in London, where Hajime worked at the embassy and she ran a business, following her grandmother’s steps by becoming the owner of several antique shops the old Yukimura gave to her granddaughter by a will.

The reality and the visions of her dream were still mixed together, and she needed some more time to fully comprehend what was going on. Her heart was still filled with sadness as the young woman recalled those memories where her dear husband had been killed in a battle and then she met him in another world. Was it just a joke of her imagination? It was true, she didn’t see him for 3 long days due to his urgent assignment, but it wasn’t a reason to have such weird and dramatic dreams in the first place!

Suddenly, she felt really scared that everything she lived through the night could be reality, that she could lose her beloved person and could be chased by some freak, who wanted her to bear his heirs.

Chizuru felt wetness in her eyes and she hurried to send away the misery in her heart by embracing the only man she trusted with all her being.

**_Her dear husband._ **

He was warm and secure. His unique scent and calming aura had always had a soothing effect on her. Chizuru dig her face in his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat carefully, but then she felt her small frame being embraced in return. Strong arms pressed her body closer to her husband and a deep calm voice sounded above her head.

“What’s the matter? You seem troubled”.

He knew her too well and could sense her mood swings without opening his eyes.

“It’s alright, dear. I just had a strange dream”.

He brushed her silky hair with his hand, enjoying the way it fell between his fingers.

“Will you tell me?”

Was she really ready to share that mysterious story in which they took the main roles? It was painful to bring back all those feelings of loss, regret, grieving again, but still the young woman nodded slightly and after giving him a tender embrace, she started to speak:

“I had a dream where you were a member of Shinsengumi and you were killed during some severe battle.  I was your wife and we had been married for 3 days. I buried your body along with all other soldiers. I can still remember an unbearable pain and misery I felt while grieving over you. I took your sword as a memory of you. Then there was some guy who wanted to marry me. It looked like he was some super-human, just like me in my dream. Do you remember the heir of the famous Kazama dynasty, that had been found yesterday in a jungle after 2 months of missing?”

Her sudden question confused him a little, but he nodded in response, recalling the yesterday’s news he read in a newspaper. Kazama Chikage was a son of one of the wealthiest families in the whole world. His private plane got into a plane crash and the man couldn’t be found after that. And now, after 2 months of missing, he was saved by a rescue group. According to the news, his fiancée Sakanoue Sen didn’t break their engagement and the wedding would be held on a certain date after Kazama’s doctors made sure in the stability of his health condition.

Saito’s wife’s sweet voice interrupted his train of thoughts as she continues her story:

“For some unknown reason, Kazama Chikage was the one who made my life even more miserable during my dream. Then we appeared in a modern world. I don’t remember how it happened, but I guess, everything is possible in dreams. I followed your voice and ended up in a world that was similar to the one we live in now.” Chizuru smiled and dig her hand in her dear man’s thick hair, stroking it gently. “There I met you, who became my land-lord for a summer. You studied to become an ambassador just like you did when we first met in a real life”.

“You story sounds like a movie,” Hajime said calmly, enjoying the sensation his wife was giving him by stroking his mane. “So, what was next?”

“You’re so impatient,” she scolded him jokingly, pouting her lips, but then she exhaled and continued to speak. “You were very protective in my dream. I didn’t remember my life in Shinsengumi times, but I was really shocked when Kazama-san had told me that we were from another world. I also made friends with Sakanoue-san. She was really sweet in my dream and she adored her groom so much. I wonder if she is like that in reality”.

“I think she is. Sakanoue Sen hasn’t given up on Kazama-san after he disappeared. She had no guarantees that he was still alive, though. So, she must be really in love with him after all,” Saito concluded with a light smile on his lips.

“You have a point,” Chizuru uttered thoughtfully. “There were many dramatic moments in my dream, but in the end, you saved me and proposed to me after everything we had been through”.

With those words she lifted her face from his chest and looked up at him, only to notice his pensive gaze. It seemed as if her husband was in a deep thought and was somewhere away from the place they were laying together. She got a little confused with his over thoughtful attitude.

“Jime?” Chizuru called out for her beloved and caught his distant gaze on herself, when he looked down on her face. He was about to say something when his wife’s eyes widened in a sudden realization and she started to chirp in a high tone:

“How could I forget?! Please, stay here. I’ll be right back!” and with those words she freed herself from his warm embrace and jumped down from the bed only to run out of the room and return some  minutes later.

Saito watched as she approached their bed he was still lying on with a careful steps and a bright smile on her pretty face. There was something behind her back, he noted. And indeed, when the woman walked to the bed and sat on the edge of it, she showed the object she had been carrying behind her back by placing it in Hajime’s hands.

“Happy Birthday, honey! Sorry for not greeting you the moment you woke up. I was under impression after having that stupid dream,” she smiled apologetically and reached forward to land a chaste kiss on her husband’s lips.

The young man looked a little surprised. He didn’t expect to get a present after hearing such a dramatic story in the morning. If to be honest, he even forgot that it was the day of his birth in the first place! But his eyes softened and his lips curled in a gentle smile as he looked at his wife’s shining face. She was beyond beautiful when she smiled like that.

“Arigato,” was all he could utter, still admiring the beautiful lady of his heart.

“Please, unwrap it!” she said in excitement. It could be clearly seen that she was waiting to witness his reaction after finding out what present she had prepared for him.

Saito unwrapped a long object in his hands carefully only to reveal an ancient sword of Japanese military forces. Such swords were rarity and to have one was an honor.

Saito’s eyes widened in disbelieve as he continued to examine every detail of that sword, starting from a sheath and finishing with the steel of the blade.

“This katana is a real masterpiece,” he uttered breathlessly.

“I am so glad that you like it, dear. When I first saw it, I had a strong wish to give it to you. Being a profy in antiques helps a lot sometimes,” Chizuru said with a silver laughing, but then her tone became serious as she added “It belonged to one of the famous captain of Shinsengumi”.

“Now I understand,” the man chuckled, never leaving his eyes from the katana in his hands. “It seems you are too impressionable person, that’s why all the recent impressions you had and the events that happened to you got mixed in your head, and your mind produced a perfect combination to relax and get rid of too much information your brain kept. And tonight was a showtime”.

Chizuru looked at the man she loved with all her heart quizzically. Her head even bent to the side in confusion.

“You mean my dream?” she had finally asked. The lord of the house nodded in response.

“I was away for 3 days and you missed me, right?”

He got a several nods as ‘yes’.

“Then you were thinking hard what present to give me. This sword belonged to one of Shinsengumi’s members. Kazama Chikage has been rescued, we live in a modern world and we are married…. If it’s not the case why you had that dream, then I don’t see any other explanation for this”.

Chizuru looked down thoughtfully to put all ‘pros’ and ‘cons’. Hajime was right. Everything she saw in her dream was somehow connected to the events and impressions she had in her real life.

They were separated due to his business trip, it was true. So, her brain started to send her fantasies of her husband through the dream. A sword she gave him as a gift belonged to a killed captain of Shinsengumi, that was why she saw Hajime being killed in her dream, but she refused to believe it even a dream, so she unconsciously pointed her thoughts to revive her husband in a modern world. Then it was Kazama… the super-human thing happened because she watched a scary movie about creatures who had inhuman powers and skills, Chizuru remembered. And it just happened that a person who took the role of a villain in her dream was that poor multimillionair Kazama Chikage. Also there was a thought in her dream that she had to bear children no matter if they were Saito’s or Kazama’s. Now Chizuru realized that the thought had been crossing her mind quiet often recently. She had been married to Hajime for almost a year now and she started to catch herself on a thought that she really wanted to have a baby—a child of their love.   

It was a shame that she didn’t solve such logical and simple chain by herself.

“It’s my fault, Chizuru,” she heard her husband’s apologetic tone and looked up at him only to wath him putting his present aside and placing his azure eyes on her firmly. He was up to something, the woman sensed it.

“I didn’t give you the attention you deserve. My work stole too much time I could share with you. We are still new-weds, after all, and we must have more of those romantic moment in our life”.

With those words he outstretched his hand and placed it on her round shoulder tenderly. The next moment his fingers started to strap down a strap of her silky nightgown.

Chizuru swallowed in anticipation, noticing a blue flame dancing in his bottomless mirrors of soul. She understood right away what he was really up to and she didn’t mind to catch his special mood.

The next moment she found herself lying and being pressed to soft sheets of their bed by her beloved’s strong body. Their lips met in a light-heading and sensual kiss and parted only when the main heroes of an adult scene needed to make a gulp of air.

“I will make you forget about everything in this or any other worlds,” he whispered moistly in her slightly opened mouth, ready to catch it in another breathtaking kiss. “All your thoughts will be filled with me and only me. And there will be no chance to anyone and anything to supplant me in your life, your mind and even in your dreams.”

Chizuru gulped his breath like air, while looking in his dark emotional eyes.

“And about the dream…maybe you should think about writing a novel?”

But she had no time to say anything in return, because her lips were sealed with another magical and longing kiss that made her forget her own name.

 Their lives gained another meaning after that day, because 9 months later the Saitos became happy parents to an adorable baby girl. And believe us, when she grows up she will definitely read her mother’s fiction that the woman had been writing during her pregnancy.

And even if the little heiress of the Saito dynasty wouldn’t understand some things in the fiction, you will be there to help her, ne? After all, you have read the book from the very beginning till the last word.

“Through the Worlds to You” is not only a title of her novel; it’s something that young Saito Chizuru wanted you to know and believe in.

_Love exists through times, dimensions, worlds and dreams. Whenever and wherever you are, your love for your beloved will always be with you no matter what._

** The end **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N now, the story of “Through the Worlds to You” has been officially completed. We hope you liked it till the very end and got all the answers for your question in this epilogue.   
> Please, sorry if there are any typos or strange combinations =( Somehow, it was hard to describe what we wanted to tell in English T_T But we still hope that you got everything we wanted to say.   
> Thank you everyone for reading our story and leaving your reviews. You helped us a lot and we will never forget your kindness. We don’t know if we write any other Hakuouki story in the future. 
> 
> In addition, we want to ask to tell us about your impressions. Please, don’t ignore the review blog and type some lines to tell us about your thoughts on the epilogue and the story itself.   
> We will be waiting for your reviews, guys! Hope to see you again!   
> With best wishes,  
> Sincerely yours,  
> Kit2000 and Anna


End file.
